El Cajon

A police stakeout at an El Cajon hardware store led to two arrests after a high-speed chase on Interstate 8 Wednesday, police said.

After 10 thefts in two weeks from pickup trucks in the parking lot of the Home Depot at 965 Arnele Ave., police parked a pickup in the lot with a portable generator sitting in the truck bed, Lt. Bob Lein said.

Shortly after noon, two men approached the vehicle and lifted the generator onto their truck, Lein said, adding that the men drove away as police moved in on them. Traveling at up to 60 m.p.h., they led police on a 2 1/2-mile chase on Interstate 8 that ended when their truck crashed into a concrete wall at El Cajon Boulevard and Chase Avenue, Lein said.

There were no injuries.

Booked on suspicion of grand theft and evading arrest were Al E. Anthonis, 27, of the 300 block of Lincoln Avenue in El Cajon, and Michael W. McFathron, 33, described as a transient, Lein said.