Man arrested after standoff at Pleasant Hill shopping center

PLEASANT HILL, Calif. (KTVU) - A 46-year-old man was arrested after crashing into an unoccupied police vehicle in Walnut Creek early Tuesday morning and then leading officers on a pursuit to the Crossroads Shopping Center in Pleasant Hill where a standoff ensued for hours, police said.

Francisco Lima was allegedly driving recklessly in a U-Haul rental truck that struck an unoccupied Walnut Creek police patrol vehicle that was parked in the 1800 block of Lacassie Avenue shortly before 3 a.m., according to Walnut Creek police.

A nearby officer who was on foot had to quickly move away from the patrol vehicle to avoid being struck by the U-Haul truck, police said.

Officers then pursued the truck as it drove north to the shopping center at Monument Boulevard and Buskirk Avenue in Pleasant Hill. Lima stopped there and remained inside the truck, disobeying police commands to get out.

Eventually at 8:06 a.m., Lima exited the vehicle and officers took him into custody. He was taken to county jail in Martinez to be booked on suspicion of attempted assault with a deadly weapon and driving recklessly while evading police.

The standoff caused a major traffic backup in the busy area of the shopping center, which is located just off of Interstate Highway 680.