Cops arrest, free SoCal man who slept through five-hour standoff

FULLERTON, Calif. (AP) Police arrested then released a 29-year-old man who slept through a five-hour standoff as he refused bullhorn orders to come out after a gunshot was fired at his home.

Joel Mullings woke up and surrendered to police about 8:45 a.m. Tuesday, said Sgt. Ron Gillet.

At first, Mullings' two roommates and a woman they met at a bar told police Mullings fired the shot. Detectives believed Mullings when he insisted he knew nothing of the goings on, even though they yelled at him with a bullhorn.

``He really was sleeping,'' the sergeant said.

Mullings realized the events when he awoke and called police with a cellular telephone they threw into the house.

Arrested were roommates Charles Anthony Riptella, 30, and Darryl Anthony Gordon, 33. Also arrested was Jennifer Lee Kanady, 25, also of Fullerton. The three left a bar about 2:30 a.m. and shared a cab with another woman they had just met. The woman, whose name was withheld by police, told officers Kanady knocked her down and kicked her face as she was being dropped off at her apartment. The cab driver tried to stop the violence, but Riptella held him back, Sgt. Gillet said. It wasn't known why Kanady attacked the other woman.

The woman called police and the cab driver gave officers the address where the three were dropped off.

As officers arrived at the home about 3:30 a.m., a shot was fired. They used a bullhorn to order everyone out. The three emerged from the home as Mullings snored away. They told officers Mullings fired the shot.

Riptella and Kanady were booked for investigation of aggravated assault. Gordon was booked for discharging a firearm in a dwelling. Five guns were found in the home. Bail amounts were not immediately available.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)