Suspects Arrested in ‘Car-Jackings’

A high-speed car chase in Glendora last week ended with the arrests of suspects in a spate of vehicle heists dubbed “car-jackings” by authorities, who say such crimes are on the rise.

Four high-priced cars have been stolen at gunpoint from their owners in Glendale recently, and the suspects have been linked to at least two of the crimes, Glendale police said.

“For a while, it was the Rolex robberies, then you had the follow-home home invasions. And now, for some reason, you’ve got the car-jackings,” Detective Russ Pierce said. “There’s two or three a day throughout the county.”

On July 21, Glendora police arrested two 16-year-old local youths after a brief freeway chase at speeds up to 100 m.p.h. The boys were in a Corvette that had been stolen at gunpoint in Glendale on July 10, Glendale Police Sgt. Lief Nicolaisen said.

The chase ended after less than a mile when the Corvette crashed into the freeway center divider near Sunflower Avenue, police said. After questioning the youths, Glendora police also arrested George Lopez, 22, a relative of the boy driving the Corvette.

Nicolaisen said Lopez and his relative confessed to two Glendale car-jackings, including the July 10 Corvette theft.

At the time of that crime, the thieves were driving a BMW stolen at gunpoint in Monterey Park, police said. Lopez and his relative told detectives “they fell in love” with the Corvette and had to have it, Nicolaisen said. Afterward, he said, the Corvette was parked near the suspects’ home and taken out for spins from time to time.

Police said they do not know whether the second 16-year-old arrested was actually involved in the car-jackings. He was released to his parents pending further investigation.

Detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department’s Northeast Division say they investigate about a dozen car-jackings a week. For the most part, San Gabriel Valley authorities said, car-jackings are not as frequent in the region as in other parts of the county. But many cities have reported such crimes in the past year, and some authorities fear that the trend will spread.

“It’s easier to rob a car now than it is to steal it while it’s parked,” said Alhambra Detective Jim Varga, who investigated about four car-jackings in the city last fall. “(Motorists) have all these electronic devices, ‘The Club.’ . . . But if the person’s inside the vehicle, the device won’t be functioning.”

Lopez remains jailed awaiting a preliminary hearing Tuesday in Glendale Municipal Court on two counts of robbery and one of grand theft auto. His relative was released to his parents. Charges are expected to be filed against him in juvenile court in the Glendale cases, Nicolaisen said.

Monterey Park Detective Wes Clair said officers there are investigatin Lopez and his relative in the BMW theft and other car-jackings.