San Diego

A San Diego man was arrested early Monday after holding his 1-year-old son hostage for almost three hours in his apartment, threatening to shoot the toddler if his wife did not return home, police said.

About 1:30 a.m., Jose Manuel Garcia, 35, of the 2500 block of L St., allegedly pointed a .38-caliber pistol at his wife Rebecca, 24; his three stepchildren ages 4, 5 and 8, and the couple’s 1-year-old son, Juan, police spokesman Bill Robinson said.

The wife ran to a neighbor’s house with the three oldest children, Robinson said, and called police. Police evacuated about 25 residents from the apartment building after Garcia threatened to kill his son if his wife refused to return.

A San Diego SWAT team negotiated Garcia out of the apartment at 4:06 a.m. and found the pistol under a pillow, Robinson said. The child was unharmed.

Garcia is being held in County Jail downtown on suspicion of four counts of felony child abuse, two counts of false imprisonment, and battery on a person without injury, a jail clerk said. His bail is $60,000 and he is to be arraigned Wednesday, the clerk said.