A pair of robbery suspects accused in a string of gas station store heists were arrested Friday after a high-speed pursuit ended in Watts, but a third suspect remained at large.
Authorities believe the suspects are connected to robberies in Garden Grove, Westminster, Cypress and, early Friday morning, Chino Hills, said Garden Grove police Lt. Carl Whitney.
One of the Orange County stick-ups the trio is accused of committing occurred at an Arco gas station/convenience store at 13482 Brookhurst St. just after 3 a.m. Thursday. The other two happened Wednesday in Cypress and Westminster, Whitney said.
Westminster police managed to get a license plate number and were conducting surveillance on a home in South Los Angeles early Friday morning, which led the officers to Chino Hills in San Bernardino County, where the suspects allegedly robbed an Arco station about 2:30 a.m. and then took off in a white Kia Optima, Whitney said.
The California Highway Patrol attempted to stop the car on the Pomona (60) Freeway at Hacienda Boulevard, but the driver sped away. A Los Angeles County sheriff’s helicopter followed overhead as the Kia’s driver — later identified as Ricky Lee Vaughn — got onto the Long Beach (710) Freeway and kept driving at high speed, eventually exiting the freeway and speeding on surface streets in South Los Angeles, according to the CHP. The driver stopped on Firth Boulevard at 96th Street, and the three suspects fled on foot.
Vaughn, 25, was found hiding in a schoolyard nearby and taken into custody. The front seat passenger was also arrested nearby, but his identity was not immediately released. The third suspect got away.
One of the suspects was wearing a sweater he was seen wearing during the Garden Grove robbery, according to Whitney, who said suspects allegedly stole cash and cigarettes in the heists.
—City News Service