Armed Robbery Suspects In Custody After San Fernando Valley Pursuit
NORTHRIDGE (CBSLA.com) — Police have taken two armed robbery suspects into custody following a pursuit in Northridge Thursday.
West Valley LAPD officers began chasing a white Ford F-150 pick-up truck driven by a male suspect near Tampa and Saticoy Thursday afternoon.
Officers threw down a spike strip hoping to stop the driver, who managed to maneuver around it and continue near Reseda and Saticoy Street.
The vehicle was stopped following a second PIT maneuver, which sent the vehicle swerving into a tree.
The driver jumped out of the vehicle with a female passenger at Nordhoff and Darby Avenues and officers pursued on foot.
The female suspect ran down a street and was taken into custody. The male suspect was apprehended after racing through the parking lot of the Northridge Public Library.
Library employee Stacy Gorman said she heard the commotion coming toward the facility, which librarian Leslie Chudnoff said is regularly occupied between 20 and 60 people.
"I stayed in the back and kind of panicked. I was hoping that he would not run inside of the library," Gorman said.
"It was after school and so we would have had parents and children. When it occurred, several patrons were coming into the door with kids. They saw this and they ran. They were frightened," Chudnoff added.
Across the street, Cal State Northridge students were alerted the chase was coming through their neighborhood via text message.
No injuries were reported.
The suspects' identities have not yet been released.
