Men in five-hour standoff sentenced
Two men arrested during a five-hour standoff in Valencia five weeks ago each received prison terms after pleading no contest to their respective charges, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said Tuesday.
Joshua Ricottone, a 29-year- old carpenter who lives in Castaic, and Brandon Williamson, 28, of Sunland, appeared late last month in San Fernando Superior Court where they entered a no contest plea to the charges against them, spokesman Ricardo Santiago told The Signal.
Williamson was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading to one count of grand theft auto, Santiago said. Ricottone received a 16month prison sentence after pleading no contest to one count of receiving stolen property exceeding $950 in value, identified as a 1999 Dodge, tools and computers.
Both men were expected to serve their sentences locally, Santiago said.
They were arrested Aug. 27, during a standoff at the Provence at Valencia Apartments at McBean Parkway and Copper Hill Drive.
Ricottone was arrested 90 minutes into the standoff after surrendering to deputies from the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station.
Williamson was arrested after he emerged from an apartment where tear gas had been released, sheriff’s spokeswoman Shirley Miller said at the time.
He was f lushed out of the apartment with tear gas and quickly arrested after he left the building, Detective Thomas Brooks said at the time.
Shortly after the pair refused to come out of the apartment, deputies surrounded the apartment, brought in heavily armed tactical units and began evacuations of nearby apartments, Miller said.