Golfers in Mile Square Park help detain car theft suspect

A group of golfers helped Fountain Valley officers detain a suspected car thief Monday in Mile Square Regional Park in Fountain Valley, police said.

Fountain Valley police officers ran a license plate check on a Jeep Cherokee at 11:18 a.m. as it was pulling into a 7-Eleven parking lot on Harbor Avenue and Heil Avenue and discovered that it had been stolen, said Sgt. Tony Luce of the Fountain Valley Police Department.

Luce said the vehicle was being driven by Mario Gam Acevedo, 34, of Santa Ana.

The officers attempted to pull over Acevedo, who took off at a high rate of speed, heading west on Heil and north onto Euclid Avenue, Luce said.

The Jeep then made a left turn into Mile Square Park and then its David L. Baker Golf Course, where it drove into a pond and overturned, Luce said.

Acevedo tried to flee on foot, Luce said, but golfers held him until police arrived.

Acevedo, a parolee, was arrested on suspicion of possessing a stolen vehicle, Luce said. Officers also discovered a “significant” amount of drugs in his pants, as well as a replica firearm and burglary tools inside the car.

He was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries suffered in the collision before being taken to jail.

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Brittany Woolsey, brittany.woolsey@latimes.com

Twitter: @BrittanyWoolsey