2 Freeway Chases Across the Region End in Arrests of 3

Two simultaneous police chases on Southern California freeways Wednesday ended with the arrests of two teenagers who abandoned an allegedly stolen van near Disneyland, authorities said, and a suspected robber in a station wagon.

Both chases were broadcast live on television, and at one point the fleeing vehicles came within 2 miles of each other as police helicopters followed.

The California Highway Patrol began chasing a white Chevrolet Astrovan at 11:38 a.m., shortly after it was reported stolen from a Palmdale halfway house for delinquent boys.

A 17-year-old and a 14-year-old from the home were in the van, CHP Sgt. Ernie Sanchez said.

At one point, the van sideswiped a flatbed truck and fishtailed dramatically.

The pursuit continued at speeds up to 85 mph on Highway 14 and Interstate 5 to Orange County, where the van turned off the freeway at the Disneyland exit and entered a Holiday Inn parking lot at 12:50 p.m.

Two youths jumped out of the van and ran into the Anaheim hotel’s Poppy Cafe & Pub.

“I’m shaking all over the place,” hostess Lourdes Alicea said. “Everybody’s running up and down outside.”

Police surrounded the building, closed the 250-room hotel and began a room-by-room search for the youths, she said.

A police dog found the youths hiding under a stairwell at 2:15 p.m., Anaheim Police Sgt. Richard Buchholz said.

The station wagon pursuit began at 11 a.m. with a Palm Springs gem store robbery by as many as five heavily armed gunmen, Palm Springs Police Sgt. Jim Seblom said.

The CHP took over the chase on Highway 111 in Riverside County as the station wagon continued west on Interstate 10 to Los Angeles, reaching speeds of 110 mph.

The pursuit continued on city streets, causing several fender-benders before the vehicle crashed into a parked Blazer in the Crenshaw area and the driver surrendered. No one else was in the car. The search continued Wednesday for the other gunmen in a separate vehicle, police said.