Police Capture Suspect Noted as Escape Artist

Steven Miko is a prison-schooled, Houdini-esque con man, police say, who has eluded authorities twice in a month--once by slicing a hole in a mattress and hiding in it, another time by walking away disguised as a journalist carrying a press pass.

But on Friday, Miko was captured in North Hills after a chase that took four hours, two police helicopters, eight police dogs, 100 officers and a total neighborhood lock-down.

Miko, 36, was wanted on a number of charges: He is accused of pointing a .44-magnum handgun at a sheriff’s deputy in March, beating his girlfriend, setting an apartment on fire this month, stealing trucks and other recent offenses.

Miko drifted between Reseda, Palmdale and Downey and was becoming notorious in squad rooms across the Los Angeles area for his escape tactics, police said.

The chase on Friday began around 8 a.m. when sheriff’s deputies went to a home in Arleta to serve Miko with an arrest warrant.

Miko fled, leading the deputies and several Los Angeles Police officers on a three-mile chase. He jumped out of his car in the 9500 block of Haskell Avenue in North Hills and dashed into a backyard.

Police searched until a police dog found him in a trailer.

Miko was booked on charges including assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, attempted robbery and felony evading. His bail was set at $100,000.