An Off-the-Wall Finish to a Brief Police Pursuit

A burglary suspect who bolted from police Saturday got caught in a tight spot, and not even the long arm of the law could pull him out.

Frank Lassina, 24, leaped over a wall in an attempt to escape police investigating a break-in at Pacific Engineers & Consultants on Business Drive, officers said.

“Unfortunately, he didn’t notice that the adjacent building was awfully close to the wall,” said Lt. Luis Ochoa. “He jumped over and got wedged between the wall and the building.”

Police raced after the suspect but quickly realized he was trapped.

Lassina had literally put himself between a block wall and a hard place. There was no way to go but up. But when police tried to pull Lassina out, they could not tug hard enough to lift him over the wall, Ochoa said.

Huntington Beach firefighters were summoned and used rescue equipment to hoist Lassina out. The operation took about 30 minutes, and no one was hurt, Ochoa said.

The incident began when a tipster called police at 4:30 a.m. to report suspicious activity at the machine shop in the 5400 block of Business Drive. When officers arrived, they found a rental truck backed into the storage yard, Ochoa said.

According to Ochoa, Dennis Lee Hober, 36, was found hiding in the truck bed. While Hober was being taken into custody, officers saw a second man dart from the shadows and leap over the wall, Ochoa said.

Lassina and Hober, who are both from Gardena, were arrested on suspicion of burglary and grand theft, Ochoa said. The two men were being held Saturday at Huntington Beach Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail each.