Suspect Held After Pursuit
A young man suspected of robbing a Los Alamitos savings and loan branch of more than $600 Friday afternoon was captured half an hour later when his car crashed into a wall in Garden Grove, police reported.
Los Alamitos police Sgt. James Jessen said that David John Brown, described as a 23-year-old Samoan transient, was booked into the Orange County Jail and charged with robbery. He was being held without bail late Friday.
Jessen said a suspect entered the Hawthorne Savings and Loan office, 3502 Katella Ave., at 1:50 p.m., pointed a pistol at a teller and demanded money. He escaped in a brown Ford sedan.
Got License Number
A witness called police and reported the getaway car’s license number, Jessen said.
Deputy Ben Stripe of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department spotted the car on Seal Beach Boulevard, near the Rossmoor Shopping Center in Stanton, and followed it. Stripe was joined in the pursuit by Stanton police Officers William Murphy and Fred Freeman.
The two police units chased the car east on the Garden Grove Freeway. The pursuit ended when the suspect left the freeway and crashed his car into a wall at Mays Avenue and Yoak Street in Garden Grove, Jessen said.
Brown ran from the wreckage but was apprehended without incident, Jessen said. He added that all the stolen money was recovered.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
