Crime Spree, Police Shootout End in 2 Arrests

Police arrested two men suspected of a wild, hourlong crime spree Wednesday that included an armed robbery, a home-invasion robbery, a carjacking and a shootout with police--culminating with one suspect apparently shooting himself in the groin by accident.

The mayhem left a police car riddled with bullet holes, but the officer inside escaped with minor scrapes by diving to the ground, police said.

“That officer is so lucky to be alive,” said Lt. Horace Frank, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department.

The crime wave began at 2:30 p.m. at a Sport Chalet sporting goods store in La Canada Flintridge, said Sgt. Dean Miller of the county Sheriff’s Department. One man allegedly brandished a handgun and demanded cash.

The pair fled the Foothill Boulevard store in a red Pontiac Trans Am, heading west on the Foothill Freeway at speeds above 120 mph, authorities said.

Sheriff’s deputies spotted the vehicle and gave chase but lost it. Moments later, the robbers appeared at the door of a home in Sunland, Frank said.

Pretending to be stranded, they asked the homeowner if they could use the telephone. He let them in and they used the phone and left, Frank said. The homeowner heard a popping noise outside and they returned.

Police believe that one robber accidentally shot himself in the groin.

When the homeowner let them back in, they bound him and stole his sport utility vehicle, police said.

About 3 p.m., a police officer spotted the stolen SUV near Sunland Park. The suspects opened fire on the patrol car, Frank said. The officer returned fire.

Both suspects were apprehended after one showed up at Northridge Hospital Medical Center with a bullet wound. The other was caught near the hospital and taken to the LAPD’s Foothill Station jail, police said. The wounded man was listed in serious condition but was expected to survive, Frank said.