North Hollywood : 3 Carjacking Suspects Held After Chase

After a wild chase Tuesday night through North Hollywood and Lakewood and then to the Burbank Airport, police captured three suspected carjackers when an airport police car rammed the vehicle, police said.

Police said the three men had stolen the Jeep at about 10:15 Tuesday night from a man who stopped at a phone booth near Vineland Avenue and Oxnard Street in North Hollywood. The men robbed the unidentified man, stole his car and sped off, said LAPD spokesman Eduardo Funes.

Officers spotted the car 10 minutes later a few blocks away and motioned the car to pull over. The driver, 19-year-old Arthur Lopez, kept going, leading police on a chase on freeways and city streets, from the San Fernando Valley to Lakewood and back. After the stolen car traveled near a sectioned-off area near the Burbank Airport, an airport police officer rammed it, disabling the car by crushing its front tires.

With the stolen car broken down, officers took Lopez, Eddie Caudillo, 25, and Oscar Perlaza, 18, in custody after a brief tussle, police said. The three were booked at Van Nuys Jail on charges of grand theft auto.

Funes said officers also put into protective custody the 4-year-old son of one of the suspects whom officers said they found riding in the car. The boy was later released to relatives. Funes said the men may also face child endangerment charges and felony evading.

No one was hurt in the chase, Funes said.