LOS ANGELES, Calif.–A pair of suspects in a San Bernardino County burglary led authorities on a chase today that hit speeds of more than 100 mph, ending in South Los Angeles, where a female suspect was quickly arrested and a male suspect was arrested after a short search.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Major Crimes detectives conducting an investigation observed two suspects burglarize a residence in the 2900 block of Olympic View Drive in Chino Hills, Sgt. Rich Peña said.
The suspects fled the scene in a silver Lexus. San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department deputies assisted by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies attempted to stop the car, but the suspects fled at a high rate of speed, Peña said.
An LASD Aero Unit helicopter followed the Lexus as it fled the Chino Hills area, initially on the westbound Pomona (60) Freeway, Peña said.
The early afternoon chase went onto the Riverside (91) Freeway and various other freeways in excess of 100 mph and surface streets in Los Angeles County before the driver exited the Harbor (110) Freeway in South Los Angeles about 12:50 p.m., Peña said.
After winding through some surface streets, the car came to a stop near Exposition Boulevard and Normandie Avenue and driver Melvin Lane, 30, of Long Beach, got out while talking on a cellphone and ran into a neighborhood, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Sgt. Rich Peña said.
Passenger Brittani Collins, 25, of Los Angeles, got into the driver’s seat and drove off. She sideswiped a bus and another vehicle while trying to squeeze between them at a congested intersection, then came to a stop, got out of the car at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Normandie Avenue and ran, Peña said.
Collins was also talking on a cellphone, but dropped it as she ran into a neighborhood. She was taken into custody a short time later, Peña said.
Stolen property was recovered from the vehicle and identified by the victims, Peña said.
Police set up a perimeter in search of Lane, who was arrested shortly before 1:30 p.m., Peña said.
When the chase wound through surface streets, Lane nearly struck a child and a woman who had stepped into a crosswalk. The woman pulled the child out of the street just as the driver slowed the car.
Lane and Collins were taken to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department’s Chino Hills Station where they booked for residential burglary and vehicular evading, Peña said.
Anyone with information about the case was asked to call the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department at (323) 267-4800 or San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department’s Chino Hills Station at (909) 364-2000.
