Local News in Brief : Santa Ana : Arizona Suspect Tied to Series of July Crimes

The Orange County district attorney’s office issued a warrant Thursday for the arrest of Johnny Lee Mills, an Arizona man suspected of a crime spree in Santa Ana on July 12.

Mills, 32, is a former convict who is awaiting trial in Arizona on a charge of armed robbery.

He also faces 22 felony counts in Orange County, ranging from armed robbery to kidnaping to shooting at officers, with 18 of those counts stemming from the July 12 spree, Santa Ana police spokeswoman Maureen Thomas said.

The district attorney’s office Thursday signed a complaint, and a warrant was issued to place a hold on Mills so that he can be immediately transferred from Arizona to Orange County after his Arizona trial, Thomas said.

Mills is charged with shooting at Santa Ana police officers who had pulled him over in a stolen car. He is also charged with leading them on a high-speed chase.

Police said he was wounded in an exchange of gunfire.

Officers said Mills and two others are charged with commandeering an abandoned vehicle, then abducting a woman. After she was released, her car was then used in an armed robbery of Mitsubishi Bank in Placentia, the complaint said.

Mills was arrested in Phoenix on July 20 on suspicion of robbing a bank and firing at police officers.