LOCAL : 3 Held in Computer Equipment Theft Linked to Ring in County

Two men and a woman arrested while allegedly trying to steal $35,000 worth of computer equipment Thursday night are suspected members of a computer theft ring that has made off with about $500,000 in equipment and software from South County high-tech companies, police said today.

The three suspects were taken into custody and booked into Orange County Central Jail on $100,000 bail each this morning after one of them led authorities on a high-speed chase from the Irvine Spectrum business district to Laguna Beach and evaded capture for more than three hours, Irvine Police Lt. Bob Leonard said.

Johnnie Ray Limbrick, 22, of Gardena was arrested at 2 a.m. by a Sheriff’s Department canine handler after a police dog found him hiding in bushes on a dark hillside along Laguna Canyon Road.

Also arrested at Meridian Software Co., the site of the alleged burglary, were Michael Anthony Gipson, 30, and Latonya Ann Mack, 22, both of Los Angeles, Leonard said.

All three face charges of commercial burglary and criminal conspiracy. Limbrick, a security guard for a Los Angeles church, faces an additional charge of evading a police officer, Olson said.