Burglary Suspects Lead Police on Chase : Crime: Two men, each driving a stolen truck, are arrested in connection with the break-in at a Cypress bakery.

Two men suspected of burglarizing a bakery early Sunday led police on a chase in two stolen trucks. One--an 18-wheel rig--sped through rain-slick streets and highways for nearly an hour before the driver stopped and was arrested in southwest Los Angeles.

Police said Benny Lee Newton, 40, ended the chase about 6 a.m. when he parked the stolen tractor-trailer rig in front of a Los Angeles police station on Martin Luther King Boulevard, just two blocks from where he lives. He was arrested by Cypress police, who were among at least five law enforcement agencies that joined the pursuit.

Police said Newton and another man were trying to steal valuable bakery equipment from the Gourmet Pie and Pastry store on Ball Road in Cypress.

The tractor-trailer and another truck were chased for several blocks before baking equipment tumbled from the rear doors of one, forcing it to stop. Police said they arrested Daryl Steven Anderson, 38, when he stepped from a stolen 10-wheel “box-truck” in Garden Grove.

Both men were charged with commercial burglary and returned to Cypress, where they were jailed in lieu of $10,000 bail. Newton was also charged with evading arrest. Both men are expected to be arraigned today at West Orange County Municipal Court in Westminster.

Cypress police Sgt. Larry Bandy said the stolen baking equipment, valued at $40,000, was recovered, including an 80-quart mixer and a bread-slicing machine.

An employee at the bakery who asked not to be identified said the stealing of bakery equipment--especially slicers and mixers--”is common.”

“These mixers cost $15,000, and a slicer can cost from $1,000 to $2,500,” he said. “Even if they get a fraction of what it’s worth, they’ve got enough money to do what they want to do.”

Bandy said the burglary appeared to be a professional job. “This is a specialized thing,” he said.

One of the trucks was stolen from Los Angeles International Airport, police said. They were uncertain where the other truck had been stolen.

This was the third freeway chase in Orange County since New Year’s Eve.

On New Year’s Eve, police in Placentia chased a suspected bank robber who shot himself when he was confronted on an off-ramp. On Friday, the Highway Patrol chased an Oregon man more than 250 miles before the suspect was killed by officers in Westminster.

Sunday, at least five jurisdictions joined in the chase of the tractor-trailer, including the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the California Highway Patrol and police units from Los Alamitos, Long Beach and Cypress.

The chase reached speeds up to 75 miles an hour on the San Diego and Harbor freeways, just as a winter storm was drenching city streets.

“It was just pouring,” said Bandy, who was involved in the chase. “You could hardly see the truck and what lane it was in.”

The incident began when police were alerted by an employee of the bakery who arrived at work and saw the trucks driving away. The employee, who had interrupted another burglary at the bakery, followed the trucks for several blocks to Valley View Street and then called police to report their directions.

“We had a unit about a half-mile up the street on Valley View,” said Bandy, who said the first police unit followed the trucks in and out of residential areas and around the back of a shopping center before help arrived in the chase.

At one point, baking equipment fell out of the back doors of the smaller truck and the vehicle stopped near Valley View Street and Chapman Avenue. Police said Anderson stepped out of the truck and was arrested.

The tractor-trailer rig continued south on Valley View and then onto the San Diego Freeway. With police in pursuit, the suspect continued onto the Harbor Freeway, where he was forced to exit on Slauson Avenue because of construction.

But even after exiting, Bandy said, “he led us on a merry chase.”

Los Angeles police blocked several intersections to prevent danger to motorists. Meanwhile, the truck sped down Figueroa Street to Martin Luther King Boulevard and eventually to the southwest police station shortly after 6 a.m.

Newton was arrested by Cypress police officers before he could exit the truck, Bandy said.

It was the second incident this weekend at the same Los Angeles police station.