Robbery Spree Suspect Held After Stand-off on Freeway

A suspect in a string of robberies, including one in which a victim was shot, was arrested Sunday after a stand-off with police closed the Golden State Freeway in Sun Valley for 30 minutes, Los Angeles police said.

No shots were fired, and no one was injured. Police said Donald Roque, 30, of Sun Valley, ended a chase marked by speeds of more than 100 m.p.h. when he drove off the Golden State Freeway shortly after 4 p.m. and crashed the car he was driving into a guardrail on the Lankershim Boulevard off-ramp. Police said he then got out of the car and stood behind it with a gun in his hand. A lengthy stand-off ensued.

“He didn’t move, he didn’t say anything; he just stood there with the gun,” Officer Gerry Williams said.

Officers Take Cover

Officers from Burbank, Los Angeles and the California Highway Patrol who had been involved in the chase surrounded the area and took cover behind their cars. The CHP closed the freeway at the Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Penrose Street exits to the north and south.

“It had to be closed because if this guy had started shooting, the freeway motorists could have been caught in the line of fire,” Williams said. “The officers had him surrounded, but as long as he had the gun, they couldn’t rush him. There was no cover.”

Officers attempted to talk to Roque, using English and Spanish, but the man did not respond or move until 4:40 p.m., when he put the handgun on the ground and surrendered, Williams said.

Roque, who is on parole for robbery, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, police said. He was being held in the Foothill Division Jail without bail.

Shot in Knee

Police said Roque is a suspect in as many as four robberies. The most recent robbery occurred at noon Sunday at a Texaco station in the 8300 block of Glenoaks Boulevard. Police said the station attendant was robbed and shot in the knee as he struggled with the gunman. The man was identified as Marx Muhlneister, 49, of Sun Valley. Authorities said he was in good condition at Pacifica Hospital in Sun Valley.

Police said the robbery spree began Wednesday when a 1973 Volvo was taken during an armed robbery in Burbank. After that, police said, robberies occurred in North Hollywood and Sun Valley, but details of the incidents were not immediately available.

After the shooting Sunday, a description of the gunman and the Volvo was broadcast to police in the San Fernando Valley area, and a Burbank patrol officer saw the car at 4 p.m. on San Fernando Boulevard, police said. When the officer attempted to signal the driver to pull over, the car sped away and entered the Golden State Freeway, police said.