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2 Men Still At Large After Armed Robbery, Carjacking, and High-Speed Pursuit Spanning 4 Counties
Two of five suspects remain at large Thursday following a wild chain of crimes covering four counties that included a college campus lockdown, a shooting, and two car chases.
The series of events began at about 3 p.m. at a Moreno Valley jewelry and pawn shop, where five men in ski masks held up a clerk, according to City News Service. The men, armed with.22- and .25-caliber handguns, forced their way into the shop, conducted a robbery, and shot the clerk before fleeing the scene.
The clerk was rushed to the hospital and is in stable condition.
The suspects took off in the getaway vehicle, leaving Riverside County in a gray two-door Lexus. The California Highway Patrol initiated a pursuit. The chase reached speeds of 100 miles per hour through San Bernardino County and into Los Angeles County, according to the CHP. The chase went into Orange County, and the chase ended on Nutwood Avenue at the Cal State Fullerton Campus.
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There at CSUF two suspects were caught and taken into custody. However, one was seen entering a campus building, and another running south from the campus. A lockdown was put in place, and the campus used aggressive social media alerts to keep students apprised of the situation.
#CSUF is in a lock down situation. Stay in your classrooms, offices and buildings. More details to come.
— Cal State Fullerton (@csuf) December 13, 2012
Law enforcement at #CSUF seeking suspects. Campus locked down. pic.twitter.com/uCcPdllA
— Cal State Fullerton (@csuf) December 13, 2012
Meanwhile, a fifth suspect carjacked a motorist in the vicinity, and took off, leading authorities on yet another pursuit that went from Fullerton to Compton, where the driver exited the freeway and drove at dangerously high speeds on city streets, several times coming close to colliding with other cars and pedestrians.
The chase ended inside the Imperial Courts Recreation Center in Watts. The suspect took off on foot and tried to evade authorities as he ran through an area occupied by kids and adults. Ultimately he was surrounded by authorities from multiple agencies and taken into custody.
This particular suspect was not only unlucky to get caught (though they pretty much always are) but also unlucky to pick the exact place where Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck and other members of his department were at the time, distributing gifts to children as part of a toy drive.
The lockdown at CSUF was lifted at around 11 p.m., but no suspect was found on the campus. He and the man who fled on foot outside the campus remain at large today.
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