What to Know
- An Orange County teen nearly missed her high school graduation ceremony when a freeway was closed for hours due to a SWAT standoff.
- Stuck in traffic, the teen got out of the car and was greeted by honking horns and cheers by drivers who saw her graduation cap.
- An assist from her uncle got her to the graduation ceremony just in time.
An Orange County teen almost missed her high school graduation ceremony in Anaheim for the most Southern California of reasons.
Traffic, and not just the standard morning drive gridlock. Arleth Ureno and family members, some visiting from as far away as Mexico, were stuck behind a freeway standoff that left traffic in the Anaheim Hills area at a standstill for hours.
Anticipation was high earlier on the morning of May 24 as they prepared to leave for the Katella High School ceremony. They left 90 minutes before the start, giving them what they thought would be enough time.
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Unfortunately, their route to the 10 a.m. ceremony at Handel Stadium included the 91 Freeway, a stretch of which was closed for hours due to the SWAT standoff with an armed man after a pursuit. Arleth suspected something was wrong when police cars, officers on motorcycles and armored SWAT vehicles began passing their car.
"When it first started and I didn't know what was going on, I was really stressed out," Arleth said. "I started crying. My mom's like, 'Don't cry, don't cry, don't mess up your makeup.'"
Traffic was backed up for miles in both directions on the freeway as law enforcement officers tried to bring the standoff to a safe conclusion. Two armored SWAT vehicles sandwiched a blue sedan with the driver inside in the middle lanes.
Drivers and passengers were getting out of their cars, which were stopped behind about a dozen law enforcement vehicles. Video showed one person roll up on a skateboard in the HOV lane.
The traffic tie-up included a heartwarming moment when other drivers learned of Arleth's dilemma. They honked horns in celebration as she donned her cap on the freeway in video that her mom posted to Instagram.
"Everybody sees me, and I had my grad cap on," Arleth said. "They just started honking and congratulating me, and it made me feel special. It really touched my heart. Even though I didn't get a celebration as I wanted, I got a very special one."
Eventually, Arleth and her dad walked across the closed freeway and back to the next exit to meet her uncle in another vehicle, still about 30 minutes from the site of the ceremony. She was late, but Arleth made it to the stadium and was still part of the ceremony.
Other family members, including her mom and grandmother, who was visiting from Mexico, never made it due to the traffic gridlock. They watched a live stream of the ceremony from the car.
The standoff ended at about noon when authorities pulled the deceased driver from the car, but the road remained closed into the afternoon.
