Casa del Mar, Hearst Castle
A man fleeing sheriff’s deputies broke through gates at Hearst Castle and holed up in an opulent guesthouse, forcing tourists to shelter in place.
The standoff Sunday ended after a parks police officer and his dog pinned down the intruder in Casa del Mar, a state parks supervisor said.
The 36-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, receiving stolen property, vandalism, failure to obey a peace officer and resisting arrest, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office said. After being treated for dog bites, he was booked into the county jail with bail set at $25,000.
The chaotic incident started around 9 a.m. at a municipal utility yard in Cambria. The man was reportedly smashing vehicles and other property of the Cambria Community Services District. When he was confronted by an employee, the vandal brandished a machete and took off in one of the district’s trucks, which had a trailer.
After a 911 call alerted officers, the stolen vehicle was pursued by sheriff’s deputies, California Highway Patrol officers and park rangers. Eight miles north on Highway 101, the truck broke through the entrance gate at the Hearst Castle visitor center and then through another gate on the hilltop. The driver left the damaged vehicle and entered Casa del Mar (also called House A).
Tours of the castle were abruptly halted, and visitors were told to shelter in place until they could safely be taken
back to the parking lot.
When the intruder refused to come out of the guesthouse, officers went in and subdued him.
Dan Falat, a State Parks superintendent, told the Tribune that there was no obvious damage to Casa del Mar or its artifacts. Tours resumed on Monday in all areas except that guesthouse.
Casa del Mar is one of the stops on the park’s Cottages & Kitchen tour. Three stories, with eight bedrooms, it was built in the early 1920s and was the residence of William Randolph Hearst and his family while they awaited completion of Casa Grande.
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