Criminal charges were filed Friday against an Arizona man who allegedly threatened to kill a supermarket employee, then held police at bay while inside the restroom of a Starbucks before surrendering about 1 1/2 hours later to Burbank police.
Paul Brennan Gibbs, 26, pleaded not guilty to one felony count of criminal threats and one misdemeanor count of resisting, delaying or obstructing an officer, according to Greg Risling with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
The Chandler, Ariz., resident was allegedly in possession of a fixed-blade knife when he emerged from a restroom following a standoff Wednesday in which crisis negotiators and SWAT officers from the Burbank Police Department were called to a Starbucks at 1001 N. San Fernando Blvd., according to Burbank police.
Customers and employees at the Starbucks and people inside adjacent businesses were escorted to a “safe location” during the standoff, police said.
Police were initially called to a Ralphs supermarket at 1100 N. San Fernando Blvd. involving someone threatening customers, and were informed that he had reportedly threatened to kill a store employee while armed with a knife, according to police.
Witnesses alerted the first police officer to arrive that the man was walking away from the grocery store, and the man ignored several orders by the officer to stop, police said.
The officer followed Gibbs as he walked toward Starbucks, and he had walked into a restroom inside the coffee chain as other officers arrived, according to police.
Gibbs has remained behind bars since his arrest, jail records show.
He is due back in a Burbank courtroom March 8, when a date is scheduled to be set for a hearing to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to allow the case against him to proceed to trial.