Oklahoman Got His Car Stolen Sooner Than He Expected

Getting out of his car was exactly what Cuong Phan Ngoc wanted to do Tuesday night after a 22-hour drive from Oklahoma to Santa Ana. But handing over the keys to three robbers at gunpoint wasn’t.

“I didn’t want to get killed,” the 18-year-old said. Besides, he added, “This was my first car!”

According to police and Ngoc, the ordeal began moments after he pulled into Santa Ana at 10:25 p.m. Three young men surrounded his car outside a market in the 1600 block of West 1st Street. One man pointed a small automatic pistol at Ngoc and ordered him out of his 1987 Honda Prelude, then the trio drove off in it.

Ngoc ran to a friend’s house nearby. But the friend, Sean Tran, had no phone, so they ran back to the market to call police.

A description of Ngoc’s car and his three teen-age assailants was broadcast over police radios. Half an hour later, a Santa Ana police officer spotted the stolen car with Oklahoma license plates and chased it into a residential neighborhood. The three suspects bolted from the car but were captured after a brief foot pursuit.

Arrested on suspicion of armed robbery and grand theft were Erik Hernandez Pantoja, 19, of Santa Ana, and two boys, ages 16 and 17 and also from Santa Ana, whose names were withheld because of their age.

A bewildered but pleased Ngoc stared at his Honda in the center of the street Tuesday night, its doors still open. “I just got here and they point a gun at me and take my car,” said the Oklahoma resident, who had intended to stay a few days with Tran. “Now, I think I’m ready to leave,” he laughed.