The Region - News from Sept. 2, 1987

Fearing for the safety of Night Stalker suspect Richard Ramirez, marshals drew guns and ordered about 40 spectators to the floor when a power failure plunged a courtroom into total darkness. Two marshals pointed their revolvers into the air when the lights went out for nearly 10 seconds shortly before 4 p.m. in Orange County Municipal Court Judge B. Tam Nomoto’s courtroom, where a preliminary hearing is under way on charges that Ramirez attacked a Mission Viejo couple in 1985. When the lights went out, marshals dragged Ramirez, his legs manacled together, across the floor and out of the courtroom.