A parolee wanted in connection with several burglaries fled from Nevada County Sheriff's deputies and barricaded himself into an apartment in Grass Valley, forcing a standoff that lasted more than three hours.

John Lemisio Sooto, 27, of Auburn, was taken into custody along with Christopher Shappert, 26, of Camptonville, without further incident.

At about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, deputies attempted to stop a vehicle with three people inside, one of whom they believed to be Sooto, Grass Valley Police Capt. Rex Marks said.

The driver, Andrea Marzolla, 23, led them on what Marks described as a “brief pursuit” before stopping in the 400 block of Maryland Drive.

“I heard the siren and came out,” said Kenneth Sampley, who lives on Maryland Drive. “I saw a plain (undercover) unit chasing a girl in a car. He tried to go around her at the corner (of Maryland and Kidder Avenue) and she put it in reverse ... She backed it up and then shot back down Maryland.”

Police quickly detained Marzolla, but the two male passengers fled into an apartment in a triplex at the end of the road, Marks said.

Residents in the immediate area were evacuated and the area was secured, Marks said. The two men were treated as if they were armed because Sooto was a parolee and he had recently been seen with firearms, Marks added.

As the afternoon wore on and temperatures rose into triple digits, SWAT team members from Grass Valley Police and the Sheriff's Office moved into place and made plans to bring in a “throw phone” to communicate with the two men.

But eventually, officers resorted to using a megaphone to urge the two men to surrender peacefully, neighbor Chelsea Harris said.

Just before 3 p.m., a SWAT team in helmets and shields charged the house, Harris added.

The two men surrendered without incident, Marks said.

“Sooto had no weapons on his person when he was arrested,” Marks said.

“Statements were made that there were weapons inside the residence, which is still being searched.”

Sooto was booked into county jail on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm and violation of parole on a no-bail warrant. Information was not available as to the nature of his prior conviction.

The second man, Christopher Shappert, 26, of Camptonville, was booked on suspicion of resisting a police officer and being an accessory to a felony; he was being held in lieu of $10,750 bail.

Marzolla was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm and booked into county jail in lieu of $10,000 bail.

Cassi Dryden, a neighbor who lives across the street from the standoff, had taken refuge from the heat in the air-conditioned home of Pat McIntosh, outside the police perimeter.

“I was sleeping, and my little dog woke me up,” she said. “I saw all the cars pulling up and people jumping out with rifles.”

She called 911 and eventually a sheriff's deputy escorted her out through Elm Ridge Cemetery, she said.

Dryden had seen Sooto around the neighborhood, describing him as a fairly new tenant of the apartment, she said. A search had been going on inside the cemetery around midnight the night before, Dryden said, but it could not be confirmed whether the two incidents were related.

To contact Staff Writer Liz Kellar, e-mail lkellar@theunion.com or call 477-4229.