Carjacking Suspect Dies in Bin

A carjacking suspect was found dead inside a trash bin in a Costa Mesa shopping center where he apparently hid from police, authorities said Tuesday.

The unidentified man, reportedly armed with a handgun, tried to take a car from a woman in the Ralphs supermarket parking lot at 380 E. 17th Street about 11:20 a.m. Monday, police said.

They said the victim thwarted the man, who ran into an alley behind a condominium complex on Tustin Avenue. Police said they searched the area and heard noise coming from the trash bin.

Officers said they saw the man inside the bin and ordered him to come out, but he refused.

Using a loudspeaker, police said, they tried in vain for nearly an hour to get the man to surrender. Police in a helicopter over the shopping center reported that that the man was not moving.

Officers said they approached the bin, looked inside and confirmed that the man seemed lifeless. Paramedics pronounced him dead.

A handgun was found in his possession. The cause of death was unclear.