Robbery suspects detained hours after high-speed chase ends in East Hollywood

EAST HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Five robbery suspects were taken into custody hours after a high-speed chase ended with the group fleeing on foot into a residential area in East Hollywood Friday night.

Four suspects were handcuffed shortly after 8:30 p.m., following a three-hour suspect search in the area of Melrose Avenue and Kingsley Drive, where the neighborhood was locked down.

A fifth suspect was taken into custody a short time later.

The suspects, in a white Kia Soul, led authorities on a dangerous pursuit through freeways and surface streets after the group allegedly robbed the Shant's Clock & Watch Repair shop in Old Town Pasadena shortly after 4 p.m.

The driver made his way onto the westbound 134 Freeway at speeds above 100 mph before getting onto surface streets in North Hollywood.

While on surface streets, the SUV traveled on the wrong side of the road several times, all while driving at average speeds of 60 mph and blowing through red lights.

The driver made his way onto the southbound 170 Freeway, weaving through traffic at dangerous speeds. The SUV got onto the southbound 101 Freeway in the Universal City area, at times driving on the shoulder and even scraping up against a wall at one point.

The suspect was driving so dangerously, a patrol vehicle appeared to nearly attempt a PIT maneuver in the middle of freeway traffic.

Ground units were close behind until the driver got back onto a freeway shoulder, got off the 101 Freeway at the Melrose Avenue exit and abruptly stopped the SUV on a street corner in the East Hollywood area. Five suspects in hooded sweatshirts all bailed out of the vehicle and into nearby homes near Melrose and Harvard boulevards.

Footage from AIR7 HD showed four suspects grouped together as they jumped from backyard to backyard in an attempt to hide from police. The fifth suspect ran in a different direction. At least one of the men appeared to have dropped something, possibly a weapon, as he ran off.

Four of the suspects made their way onto a property, where they would remain for hours as police figured out where they were and how to get to them. At one point, a man appeared to come out of a carport with his hands up. Authorities said the man spoke to police and was not one of the suspects.

When the suspects were found, K-9s moved in and got to the men, biting two of them severely enough that they were sent to the hospital.

"They had ample opportunity to come out from where they were," explained Pasadena PD Lt. Max Dahlstein. "They made the decision to stay hidden, and the dogs are the ones that ended up getting the bite."

Dahlstein said many officers stayed at the scene to look for any weapons or merchandise that may have been stashed in bushes.