Seven arrested in escape attempt

Ben Godar

Seven people have been arrested in connection with the escape of

three people in police custody, including one who was shot by

officers as he drove away in a patrol car.

Two of those arrested were detained early Friday morning by police

during a traffic stop, but ran away when another man in custody broke

loose and drove away in a police car. Police also arrested three

people on suspicion of aiding in the escape and one on an unrelated

felony narcotics warrant. All were arrested Saturday during

investigations in North Hollywood and Ontario, Burbank Police Lt.

Kevin Kraft said.

Those arrested Saturday were expected to be arraigned Tuesday, he

said.

“In a situation as involved as this, being able to arrest this

number of people in such a short time is very gratifying,” he said.

The incident occurred at 2:40 a.m. Friday after Burbank officers

stopped a car in the 4800 block of Arcola Avenue in North Hollywood.

Two men and one woman were removed from the vehicle and the men were

handcuffed. One of the men, 25-year-old Raymond Salaiz of Monterey

Park, got loose from the cuffs and got into the driver’s seat of a

patrol car, police said.

An officer attempted to restrain Salaiz but was thrown from the

car, after which Salaiz drove away. Officers fired two shots at the

suspect during the incident, police said. Salaiz drove about two

blocks before leaving the car and running into a residential area. An

LAPD K-9 unit found him hiding along the side of a house about 6 a.m.

Salaiz was hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the chest but

released Tuesday, police said. As of late Tuesday, a date for his

arraignment had not been set.

Two others who escaped police custody, 24-year-old Robbie Alvarez

of City Terrace and 22-year-old Ashley Hollon of Monterey Park, were

arrested Saturday on suspicion of escaping from a police officer,

Kraft said.

Jennifer Afonin and Gus Machuca of North Hollywood and Shaun Dison

of Ontario were all arrested on suspicion of aiding an escaped felon.

Once Alvarez and Hollon escaped from officers, Kraft said the three

helped them in a variety of ways.

“Some of the people participated in picking them up, some cut the

handcuffs off them and some aided in transporting them,” he said.