Police Arrest 2 Suspects After Stolen-Car Chase

Two men were arrested in a stolen car after a chase in Valencia this morning, but two other occupants of the car eluded authorities despite an extensive predawn search of the College of the Canyons campus and surrounding areas, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department reported.

Deputies said the incident began about 2 a.m. when a deputy on routine patrol spotted a car driving erratically on Lyons Avenue in Newhall. When the deputy attempted to stop the car--which carried four men--it sped away on the northbound Golden State Freeway.

The car exited the freeway on Valencia Boulevard and stopped in a parking lot. The driver and front-seat passenger jumped from the car and ran into a wooded hillside area near the college campus, deputies said.

Lt. Ed Chenal said the two men in the back seat were captured before they could escape. They were identified as Daniel Garcia, 22, of Canyon Country, and Kevin Claggett, 18, of Newhall. Burglary tools were found in the car, and the two men were arrested on suspicion of burglary.

Chenal said the car had been reported stolen in Long Beach and the suspects could face additional charges of grand theft of an auto.

About 15 deputies and California Highway Patrol officers and four police dogs were used to search for the other two men. A Los Angeles County Fire Department helicopter with a searchlight was also used during the search of the campus and nearby homes in the exclusive Summit development. But the two men were not captured. After two hours the search was called off.

“We got two, two got away,” Lt. Harvey Cantor said.