SWAT Lays Siege to House but Fugitive Is Not There

SWAT teams fired tear gas Tuesday night into a West Hills home where police believed fugitive Jesse James Hollywood had taken refuge, but after a three-hour siege investigators came up empty handed.

Los Angeles police surrounded the house in the 8000 block of McLaren Avenue about 4:15 p.m., and used a bullhorn to urge Hollywood, 20, to surrender. But after entering the home after 7 p.m., police said Hollywood was not there.

The resident, John Roberts, 68, came out of the house before the siege started and was questioned by police but not arrested, said Cmdr. Bruce Correll of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, which is leading the investigation. Roberts told police that he is a longtime friend of Hollywood’s family.

Correll said a van owned by Roberts and parked at the house was used in the kidnapping of 15-year-old Nicholas Markowitz, whose body was found in the mountains near Santa Barbara on Aug. 12.

Although Hollywood was not present when Nicholas was shot to death, authorities said he orchestrated the kidnapping in an attempt to get the victim’s older brother, 22-year-old Benjamin Markowitz, to repay a $36,000 debt. Police say both men were involved in drug dealing.

Four others, including a 17-year-old boy, have been charged with murder and kidnapping, and may face the death penalty.

Earlier Tuesday, Santa Barbara sheriff’s detectives searched Hollywood’s family home in the 22700 block of Keswick Street in West Hills.

At the home, detectives questioned Hollywood’s father, Jack Hollywood, about his son’s whereabouts, said Lt. Mike Burridge of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department. Investigators carried several evidence bags out of the Keswick home.

“It was just paperwork,” Burridge said, declining to elaborate. “We decided to search the residence to see if there is any evidence that would lead us to him.”

Jack Hollywood could not be reached for comment.

After Nicholas’ body was found, police say, Hollywood fled to Colorado--stopping first in Las Vegas. But he returned to the San Fernando Valley area last week--probably because his family and friends live here, Burridge said.

“From what we have seen so far, he goes places where he knows people,” Burridge said. “He’s not a very bright crook.”

Burridge said Hollywood was driven to California by a childhood friend from Colorado, whom he did not identify. The two men stayed at the Flamingo Hilton Hotel on Aug. 22. Hollywood had previously stayed at the opulent Bellagio Hotel and Resort on his way to Colorado on Aug. 15.

Burridge said Hollywood and his friend drove from Las Vegas to Camarillo on Aug. 23, checking into a motel. Two days later, the friend dropped off Hollywood somewhere in West Hills, he said.

Because West Hills is part of the city of Los Angeles, the SWAT team operation was carried out by the Los Angeles Police Department. The neighborhood was paralyzed for hours, annoying some area residents.

“We moved here five years ago, thinking this is a good neighborhood to raise our kids. And here we are in the suburbs, and this thing is right in our face,” said Terri Carrera, a neighbor.

SWAT teams entered the home about 7:15 p.m., but it wasn’t until about 8:45 p.m. that police announced that no one was found inside.

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Risling is a reporter for Times Community News and Fox is a Times staff writer. Times staff writer Jeffrey Gettleman also contributed to this story.