2 Held After Huntington Beach Robbery, Helicopter Chase

A Huntington Beach man and his woman companion were in jail Sunday after a robbery and high-speed chase involving a police helicopter and four patrol cars.

The suspects, Michael Warren Vines, 35, a construction worker, and Laura Ann Corbett, 30, who listed no occupation, were held at Huntington Beach City Jail on suspicion of robbery in Saturday’s 6:42 p.m. holdup of the Sunglass Outlet, 19092 Beach Blvd., police said.

Pretending that they were armed with a gun, two people robbed the business of $514 in cash, then fled in a blue station wagon, Huntington Beach Police Sgt. Tris Swan said.

Police were immediately called, and a dispatcher radioed to a nearby police helicopter a description of the getaway vehicle and its last known direction, Swan said.

The helicopter spotted the suspects’ vehicle traveling eastbound on Ellis Avenue near Beach Boulevard. Directed by the helicopter, four patrol cars chased the vehicle for 16 minutes at 80 to 100 m.p.h.

The vehicle finally stopped in a Target store parking lot at Brookhurst Street and Westminster Boulevard in Garden Grove, where the suspects surrendered.