A 42-year-old man was behind bars Thursday on suspicion of at least seven burglaries and leading police on a high-speed pursuit through Orange County while smoking methamphetamine, police said.
Maurice Alexander Topps of Laguna Woods was arrested Monday night when security guards at Santa Ana College spotted him on campus and recognized him as a suspect in an earlier computer theft, according to Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna. The security at the college called police, who arrested Topps, Bertagna said.
Police then recognized Topps as the suspect in a Sept. 15 pursuit following the theft of a sport-utility vehicle, Bertagna said.
“He’s good for seven commercial burglaries, but they believe it could be up to 40” throughout the Southland, Bertagna said.
Police released a surveillance video image of Topps allegedly burglarizing an office building at 3 MacArthur Place in Santa Ana.
The SUV involved in the mid-September pursuit was stolen during a burglary at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange on Aug. 31, Bertagna said.
Topps is accused of stealing the vehicle’s keys from the purse of its owner, according to Bertagna.
On Sept. 15, police spotted the SUV, which was being driven erratically near the Costa Mesa (55) Freeway and MacArthur Boulevard, Bertagna said. The officer checked the license plate and was informed it was reported stolen.
Topps allegedly refused to stop the vehicle and led police on a chase through the county into a multi-level parking garage at Saddleback Memorial Medical Center in Laguna Hills, Bertagna said.
During the pursuit, officers saw Topps passing what appeared to be a drug pipe to a female passenger, who would pass it back, Bertagna said. Smoke could be seen coming from the windows and after the suspects ditched the vehicle, officers found a meth pipe in it, Bertagna said.
Topps, being held without bail, was wanted on suspicion of violating probation, Bertagna said.
–City News Service