Stolen Car Suspects Avoid Capture In Laguna Hills After Ducking Into Parking Garage
LAGUNA HILLS (CBSLA.com) — Two stolen car suspects -- a man and a woman -- were able to avoid capture Thursday evening after they ducked into a parking garage.
Police in Santa Ana chased the stolen car suspect for about an hour when the suspects took the calculated move.
Police said the male was driving and the female was the passenger.
The chase began in Santa Ana, went to Tustin, then to Irvine and looped back to Santa Ana.
Desmond Shaw in Sky 9 said the suspect drove a white RAV4 recklessly and at excessive speeds.
The driver, driving mostly on the 5 Freeway, alternated between the carpool and breakdown lanes. On a few occasions, he narrowly missed other vehicles.
Near Lake Forest, the driver made an erratic movie that almost cost him control of the vehicle. The driver got off the freeway and began running red lights on surface streets.
Police maintained a safe distance out of a precaution for pedestrian saftey but that allowed the suspects to get a big head start on them. A chopper tracking the suspects from above lost them as they entered the parking garage.
Prior to entering the garage, the reckless driver went the wrong way on several roads, blew through at least four red lights and then drove throough tthe Laguna Hills mall parking lot at more than 50 mph.
The couple then drove into a covered parking structure for the Saddleback Memorial Hospital, abutting a Citibank building. Shaw reported that a Santa Ana Police motorcycle unit quickly entered the parking structure in an effort to keep an eye on the suspects.
Police surrounded the building, including at least eight patrol cars covering every exit.
After searching for more than 45 minutes, police said the parking structure was clear suggesting the suspects may have entered the hospital where another search is underway.
Around 8 p.m, police said the suspects were still at large but said they were going to swab the vehicle for DNA and dust for fingerprints in an effort to identify the suspects.
