The robot was the game changer

Richard Winton and Matt Hamilton report in the LA Times,

An hours-long standoff in the darkness of the high desert came to a novel end when Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies used a robot to stealthily snatch a rifle from an attempted murder suspect, authorities said Thursday.

..."The robot was a game changer here,” said Capt. Jack Ewell, a tactical expert with the Sheriff’s Department — the largest sheriff’s department in the nation. “We didn't have to risk a deputy's life to disarm a very violent man."

Deputies ordered Bunge to surrender several times but he refused. A sheriff’s SWAT team arrived with armored vehicles and tried to coax him to surrender for more than six hours.

Eventually, officials deployed the robot to gain a closer view of Bunge’s hideout. The camera showed him on his stomach, with his rifle at his feet, Ewell said.

To seize the firearm, they hatched a plan that relied on distractions. Deputies in an armored vehicle approached to the front of Bunge, yelling at him through a public address system to surrender. A helicopter whirred overhead.

From behind, the olive-colored robot approached and extended its claw into Bunge’s hideout.

"The robot was able to move up and grab the gun without him noticing,” Ewell said. “He never knew it happened.”

Deputies quickly reversed the robot and recovered the gun. Then, they sent the device back to the berm and had the robot grab the wire fencing, exposing Bunge’s hiding spot.

"He only realized the gun was gone when the robot returned to pull down the wire,” Ewell said.

Bunge surrendered immediately.

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