3 Holdup Suspects Arrested After Freeway Chase

Three men suspected of holding up a Fountain Valley cigarette store were captured Monday in a Westchester apartment complex about four hours after a high-speed freeway chase.

Police were seeking two other suspects in the holdup, which began at 10:45 a.m. when two armed men walked into a Cigarettes Cheaper shop and locked a woman clerk in a bathroom, Fountain Valley Police Sgt. Tom Perry said.

Detectives said the men took dozens of cartons of cigarettes from the Bushard Street store, passing them to two accomplices inside a champagne-colored minivan before fleeing. No shots were fired.

The clerk, who was unharmed, freed herself and called police.

A Fountain Valley motorcycle officer followed the van to the San Diego Freeway. Three Fountain Valley police cars took up the pursuit at up to 100 mph until the van left the freeway at Westchester.

Perry said officers momentarily gave up the chase when they were forced to wait for a train. A Los Angeles County sheriff’s helicopter followed the van to 99th Street and Hindry Avenue, where the suspects ran into an apartment complex.

Perry said Los Angeles police set up a perimeter and began a door-to-door search.

Three suspects surrendered about 4 p.m., Fountain Valley Police Lt. Larry Griswald said.

He identified those being held at the Orange County Jail as Kevin Baldwin, 23, of Los Angeles; Rasheed Cooper, 26, also of Los Angeles; and Kevin Johnson, 29, of Hawthorne. They were being held on suspicion of robbery at the Orange County Jail, Griswald said.