MAN IN STANDOFF WAS RELEASED EARLY.

Byline: ALEX DOBUZINSKIS

Staff Writer

A man arrested after an armed standoff at a Stevenson Ranch hotel had been released from jail in May in an early-release program, authorities said Monday.

Travis Smith, 26, of Canyon Country was arrested earlier this year and pleaded no contest May 23 to cultivating marijuana, court officials said.

He was sentenced to a year in jail and three years of probation.

But Smith was released on May 31 under a work-release program, said sheriff's Sgt. Ed Ramirez of the jail division. Smith was instructed to show up for a work assignment upon his release.

The Sheriff's Department has been releasing inmates early for several years because of overcrowded conditions in the county jail system.

Now, Smith is back in custody at the Santa Clarita station jail, after his arrest Friday evening after a nearly four-hour standoff with sheriff's deputies at the Comfort Suites in Stevenson Ranch.

Sometime last month, Smith stole a Glock 10 mm handgun from his uncle, who lives in Lancaster, said sheriff's Lt. Brenda Cambra of the Santa Clarita station.

He also e-mailed his 43-year-old girlfriend a picture of the gun, and left a threatening message on her voice mail last week, Cambra said.

Smith, who reports being unemployed, apparently lived at the same address as his girlfriend, who claims to have a restraining order against him, Cambra said.

His uncle reported the gun stolen on June 25, but the gun theft happened before that, she said.

"He assumed, you know, it's his nephew, that he would be able to get it back (on his own)," Cambra said.

On Friday, sheriff's officials found out Smith was at the Comfort Suites on Pico Canyon Road, and tried to contact him there but couldn't find him, Cambra said.

Later, the hotel wanted to move Smith to another room, and when he refused, they contacted the Sheriff's Department, which sent deputies back to the hotel, Cambra said.

Smith, believed to have a gun in the room, would not come out, setting off a nearly four-hour standoff that ended at 7:45 p.m. Friday.

No shots were fired and no one was hurt, but hotel guests had to be evacuated.

"It's a public place; it's much better if it's resolved in a positive manner," Cambra said.

Detectives were investigating if Smith committed an attempted robbery and carjacking near Pico Canyon Road and The Old Road on Wednesday, but they still were unsure if he was involved.

Smith is due to appear in court today in Santa Clarita to face charges of grand theft of a firearm and making a terrorist threat.

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