El Segundo police say they caught the ‘air horn guy’ and residents rejoice

Some people in  El Segundo are breathing a sigh of relief after police captured the man suspected of being the “air horn guy” who has been tormenting residents by blasting the sound-making device before dawn. 

John W. Nuggent was taken into custody Sunday after El Segundo officers heard the ear-splitting noise described as  the sound of a “train coming through the neighborhood,” around 4 a.m., according to a post on the department’s Facebook page.

There had been numerous complaints from people over the past several weeks who reported seeing a man speeding away from the scene of the noise crime in a blue, four-door compact car.

After hearing the early-morning disturbance, officers spotted a 2006 Chevrolet Aveo matching that description and pulled it over. Inside, they found Nuggent and an air horn.

“They found the air horn guy!!!” wrote one woman on the department’s online post.

Another presumably sleep-deprived woman commented, “It was this idiot that’s been waking us up!”

“I’m glad you got him,” said another. “I’m sick of hearing that horn blaring in front of my house.”

Nuggent was taken into custody after several victims of the noise pollution came outside their homes and made a citizen’s arrest.

Police explained that officers can’t be victims of “disturbing the peace,” and so they would have only been able to cite the suspect with a minor traffic infraction and let him go.

Having residents make the arrest upped the crime to a prosecutable misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of up to 90 days in jail, a fine of $400 or both.

"He's been doing this for weeks, and we've been chasing him for weeks — but we got him," said El Segundo police Lt. Ray Garcia to KNBC TV.  The lieutenant said the man had been blasting the horn on an almost nightly basis. 

Nuggent was booked into jail on a charge of disturbing the peace, his car was impounded and the air horn has been retired, for now anyway. 

Police don’t know the motive for the loud law-breaking but Garcia told the TV station that investigators think he may had a beef with someone in the neighborhood and the noise was his revenge. 

How loud is an air horn? 

This loud:

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debbi.baker@sduniontribune.com

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