By Debbie Arrington
darrington@sacbee.com
Call it the case of the naked gun woman.
At a Super 8 motel in Vacaville, a night clerk convinced a nude woman brandishing a handgun to surrender to police early Sunday morning.
Patricia Wright, 32, of Fairfield, was arrested by Vacaville police at about 3 a.m. following a 20-minute standoff, officials said.
According to police, Wright entered the motel's lobby around 2:40 a.m. Sunday wearing no clothes but waving a gun. The female desk clerk called 911, then tried to calm Wright, who was staying at the motel with a male companion.
Police dispatchers stayed on the line with the clerk and also talked to Wright on a second phone line, according to Sgt. Mark Donaldson. Wright told them that she was afraid and had ingested multiple drugs, police said.
As officers surrounded the motel, the clerk kept Wright talking for about 20 minutes, eventually convincing her to put down the gun. After securing the loaded .38-caliber semi-automatic in a safe place, the clerk coaxed Wright to surrender peacefully to officers outside the lobby.
Wright was taken into custody and booked into Solano County Jail in Fairfield on charges of suspicion of brandishing a firearm, possession of a loaded firearm in public and possession of a firearm that had its serial number removed. She was held Sunday evening on $20,000 bail.
Other motel guests slept through the incident, which was contained to the lobby. The motel was not evacuated, and no one was injured in the standoff, officials said. Police questioned Wright's companion, but he was released when it was determined he had committed no crime.
Donaldson lauded the actions of the clerk, who did not want to be identified. "The clerk did a tremendous job of remaining calm and being able to keep the suspect calm," he told reporters. "She was a very brave woman."
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