Three of five suspects accused of a string of residential burglaries in Irvine were behind bars Friday.
Verasm Kevin Eam, 22, Ferdinand Morales Franco, 32, Tracy Nan, 32, and Kevin Paul Williams, 30, all of Long Beach, were arrested Wednesday and booked on suspicion of four burglaries in the Northwood Pointe neighborhood, according to Kim Mohr of the Irvine Police Department.
Terry Nguyen Huynh, 21, of Newport Beach, was booked on being an accessory, Mohr said.
Franco and Huynh have posted bail and were released, according to jail records.
Police were called to a burglary in progress about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday and as officers arrived they saw the suspects fleeing in a black Lexus, Mohr said. A police sergeant spotted the suspected getaway car about an hour later near Meadowood Park and stopped the car, Mohr said.
Nan, who was driving, was arrested. Eam, Franco and Williams tried to run away, but one suspect was found a short time later hiding in a trash bin, Mohr said.
A search for the remaining suspects prompted a lockdown at Canyon View Elementary School and a “soft” lockdown at Northwood High School.
Two other suspects were caught shortly after a resident saw them flee from her garage about 2:50 p.m., Mohr said. The two allegedly broke into a home, prompting the resident to flee and call police, who rounded up the remaining suspects, Mohr said.
Huynh was accused of attempting to give the suspects a ride, Mohr said.
Eam pleaded guilty June 16 to possession of a gun in a school zone, carrying a concealed gun in a vehicle and carrying a loaded, stolen gun in public, and was sentenced to 180 days in jail and placed on three years of formal probation, according to court records.
—City News Service