Counselor at Mental Clinic Taken Hostage

A resident of a Cerritos mental health clinic held a counselor at knifepoint for more than an hour before releasing her and returning quietly to his room, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies said Monday.

Ben Levinson, 20, was arrested following the Sunday evening incident in the office of counselor Diane Amneus, 42, at Casa de Amistad, a private clinic that houses up to six patients under contract with the county Health Department. Amneus was not injured.

Lt. Dave Rosenberger said the counselor told deputies that Levinson, who weighs 300 pounds, asked to borrow a knife so he could prepare his dinner. As she unlocked the closet where knives are kept for sign-out by patients, Levinson lunged forward and seized a 13-inch butcher knife, he said.

Levinson demanded money and forced Amneus to make three or four telephone calls while threatening her, Rosenberger said. After she managed to convince him that he should not take her money, Levinson reportedly put down the knife and left her office.