4 plead not guilty after allegedly burglarizing Newport home, leading police on lengthy freeway chase

Four people have pleaded not guilty to felony charges after allegedly burglarizing a Newport Beach home before leading police on a 47-mile freeway chase, according to authorities.

At about 10:37 p.m. on Sept. 9, Newport Beach police attempted to pull over a black Toyota Camry in the area of San Joaquin Hills and Spy Glass Hill roads for allegedly driving at a high rate of speed and having illegally tinted windows, police said.

The Camry didn’t yield and instead fled onto the 73 Freeway, with police in pursuit. With assistance from the California Highway Patrol and the help of spike strips, authorities were able to stop the vehicle at the junction of the 71 and 91 freeways near Corona, police said.

The pursuit ended shortly after 11 p.m., according to Newport Beach Police Department spokeswoman Heather Rangel.

After arresting the four occupants, officers searched the Camry and found a safe containing documents that lead them to a Newport Beach home in the area of Half Moon Bay and Point Loma drives, police said.

At the home, officers found a garage door open, a shattered glass door, “ransacked” rooms, mud tracked throughout the house and the original location of the safe, police said. The homeowner was not present at the time of the break-in, according to authorities.

Elante Lamar Gilliam, 28, of Altadena; Lindsay Claudine Lacy, 25, of Rancho Cordova; and Pasadena residents Martrell Eric Robinson, 18, and Brittany Victoria Chatman, 27, are all charged with one felony count of first-degree burglary, one felony count of receiving stolen property and one misdemeanor count of possession of burglary tools, court records show.

Chatman also is charged with evading a peace officer, a felony, and a misdemeanor count of driving on a suspended license, according to court records.

The four pleaded not guilty to all charges against them on Sept. 11, court records show.

All four defendants are in custody and being held on $1-million bail — Gilliam, Lacy and Chatman at Orange County Jail and Robinson at the Theo Lacy Facility in Orange. They are scheduled back in court Thursday, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office and court records.

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