A brawl at an Indio gas station left a man with serious injuries and triggered an hours-long standoff at an apartment complex that ended Monday morning with the suspect’s arrest, police said.
The fight, involving about a dozen people, was reported at 10:33 p.m. Sunday at a Chevron gas station at Highway 111 and Monroe Street, according to Indio Police Department spokesman Ben Guitron.
When officers arrived, the fight had ended and the people involved had left, except for a man who had been hit by a vehicle during the melee and suffered serious injuries, Guitron said.
The man, whose name was not released, was taken to a hospital, where he was listed in critical condition, Guitron said.
Police said they believe the injured man was part of the group that instigated the fight. Officers eventually tracked down other people suspected of being involved in the brawl to the Cielo Visto apartment complex in the 81800 block of Shadow Palm Street, according to Guitron.
Officers spotted guns on the balcony of a second-story unit, but no one initially answered the door. Eventually, four people came out of the apartment and were taken into custody, though a fifth suspect remained inside and refused to come out, Guitron said.
Residents in some of the neighboring apartments were evacuated and police negotiators attempted to convince the suspect to surrender. He finally came to the door around 6:40 Monday morning and was arrested, Guitron said.
Police are still trying to determine the identities of others who were part of the scuffle, he said.
A portion of the gas station remained closed Monday morning while investigators gathered evidence.