Sacramento Standoff Enters Marathon Category

 A three-day hostage standoff between an armed 26-year-old San  Francisco man and a Sacramento SWAT team continued into this afternoon with a  robot going into an apartment to give water to the suspect and the  16-month-old boy with him, a sheriff's spokeswoman said.
     Anthony Alvarez has been holding the boy, the son of his cousin,  hostage since 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at an apartment complex in the 2400 block  of Arden Way in an unincorporated area near Sacramento, Sacramento County  sheriff's spokeswoman Sharon Chow said.
     Alvarez is wanted in connection with a May 26 robbery at a U.S.  Bank at 4663 Clayton Road in Concord, as well as for shooting at a Concord  police officer who pursued him after a traffic stop June 4. He also is wanted  for questioning as a potential suspect in a Bay Area homicide, sheriff's Sgt.  Tim Curran said.
     According to the San Francisco District Attorney's Office, Alvarez  has a prior conviction for a drug-related arrest in 2006, as well as a  probation violation in 2009.
     Authorities heard the infant this morning, and have also seen him  several times since Thursday. The boy appears to be uninjured, according to  Chow.
     Water was sent into the apartment via a police robot shortly after  2:30 p.m. today. Alvarez, who shot and damaged the robot when it was equipped  with a camera and sent in Thursday morning, did not shoot the robot this time  around, Chow said.
     Alvarez, whose birthday was Thursday, was traced to the Sacramento  apartment complex this week after the June 4 incident, in which he ran from  his car after a traffic stop. At one point, Alvarez allegedly fired shots at  a pursuing police officer, and the officer returned fire. No one was injured,  but Alvarez managed to escape.
     Police, with the assistance of Sacramento County sheriff's  deputies and an FBI representative, descended on the complex Wednesday  morning.
     The standoff began after Alvarez saw an officer, grabbed his  cousin's infant son and brought him into an apartment. Several adults were  able to flee the apartment.
     It was later determined there was also a 4-year-old child in the  unit who was evacuated through a rear window without Alvarez's knowledge,  according to the sheriff's office.
     Authorities also had to pull a woman off the roof Thursday after  she climbed on top of the apartment complex in an apparent attempt to save  the baby. She was taken to a local hospital for mental evaluation, Chow said.
     Arden Way has been blocked off between Fulton Avenue and Bell  Street since the standoff began, Chow said.