NEWPORT BEACH : 3 Men Charged With Robbery Conspiracy

Three men were arrested Tuesday after a police officer monitoring the filming of a car commercial was alerted to a nearby robbery attempt.

The officer was stationed at the scene of a Chrysler car commercial being filmed at John Dominus Restaurant, 2901 W. Coast Highway. During the filming, an employee of the Mozaffarian jewelry store in the same complex told the officer that three suspicious people had tried to enter the closed store, Police Sgt. Andy Gonis said.

At about 10:40 a.m., the officer arrested Eddie Arnold Sanchez, 36, Albert Robert Tripplett, 21, and Andrew Hernandez, 31, Gonis said. The three were charged with conspiracy to commit robbery and are being held in lieu of $50,000 bail.

The three had visited the jewelry store Monday evening to look over merchandise, police said, and returned Tuesday morning, allegedly to try to open the front door of the closed store.

As the three tried to exit the parking garage, the officer stopped their car and found an attache case containing duct tape and a handgun, police said.

Joseph Cleary, of the Newport Beach film liaison office, said about 15 crew members had been at the filming at the time of the arrest. It is standard procedure, he said, to arrange for police to be on hand when commercials or movies are being filmed in the city.