3 Are Arrested in Separate Car Thefts

Simi Valley police got a two-for-one deal on stolen cars Wednesday morning, when two men suspected of auto theft were arrested by officers investigating another apparent car theft.

Now officers are trying to determine if the auto thefts are related.

At 2:50 a.m., Officers Paul Fitzpatrick and Jack Greenberg saw a car traveling north at a high rate of speed on Tapo Canyon Road near Los Angeles Avenue.

They followed the 1994 Toyota Camry onto the eastbound 118 Freeway, and clocked it going over 80 mph, Greenberg said. A check of the license plate showed that the car was reported stolen from Toyota Towne of Simi Valley, 2380 1st St., on Friday.

The car got off the freeway at Stearns Street, where Greenberg and Fitzpatrick were joined in the pursuit by Officer Stephanie Shannon, who works with a police dog. Officers chased the car south to Los Angeles Avenue and west to the Metrolink station, where they attempted to pull it over.

Greenberg said the driver continued speeding west on Los Angeles Avenue, through several dirt fields and side streets, until he pulled into a driveway at a house in the 4100 block of Hi Drive, about one block from where the pursuit began.

The man ran inside, and officers took him into custody without incident. He was identified as Dwight Grimes, 33, of North Hollywood. Grimes was later released pending further investigation.

While one group of officers dealt with Grimes, two blocks away at Ish Drive and Buyers Street, another officer spotted a Honda Accord matching the description of a vehicle stolen the day before from First Honda, 2283 1st St., in Simi Valley.

The driver, Mark John Foster, 20, and his passenger, Shaun Daniel Tanner, 18, both transients, were arrested on suspicion of auto theft. Both were being held Wednesday at County Jail in Ventura on $10,000 bail.

The investigation is continuing.