A 39-year-old man has been charged with murder in the death of a 92-year-old man, after an hours-long standoff with police in a Hermosa Beach home, where the victim’s body was found.
Robert Simmons was arrested Saturday following a seven-hour standoff at the victim’s home in the 500 block of The Strand. He came out in costume-like attire, wearing sunglasses, a suit and tie and a fedora.
Robert Simmons surrenders to police following a seven-hour standoff.
CBS LA
It is not known if Simmons had any ties to the victim, Demetrius Doukoullos, or if the encounter was random.
Authorities arrived at the Strand house around 12:30 p.m. on Saturday after the victim’s realtor contacted police for a welfare check after not hearing from him in about a week, Hermosa Beach police said.
The landlord granted officers entry to the home, and that is when they found the suspect inside. Police said the suspect claimed he was armed and then barricaded himself inside the residence.
The standoff ended at around 7:45 p.m. when Simmons came out in a suit and tie, with his hands up. He identified himself to the authorities as Elanor Beaulieu.
Neighbors said that they had started seeing Simmons several days before Saturday’s incident.
Doukoullos was a noted local developer of beachfront homes. The examiner listed his cause of death as deferred, pending additional tests.
An alleged motive for the killing remains unknown. Simmons is expected to be arraigned on Tuesday at the Torrance Courthouse.