Screencap of Google Maps.
Four Long Beach residents were arrested Tuesday evening after allegedly stealing from the South Coast Plaza Nordstrom Rack and leading police on a car chase, according to the Costa Mesa Police Department (CMPD).
According to CMPD Sgt. Clinten Dieball, David Alfaro, 23, Sarai Rodarte, 19, Raquel Perez, 32 and Marivel Cuevas, 33, all residents of Long Beach, were arrested following the pursuit.
At approximately 6:51PM, officers responded to the South Coast Plaza Nordstrom Rack amid reports of a robbery, a release issued by the department stated. They learned that Nordstrom Rack’s Loss Prevention (LP) agents had attempted to detain a male and two females from stealing merchandise, when the male brandished his knife.
Police said the man attempted to cut the LP Agents prior to fleeing the business with the two females. The LP agents obtained a partial license plate number for a black SUV that the suspects used to flee, tracking it as it entered the northbound SR73.
Once there, police conducted a traffic stop, and the car temporarily obliged before the male suspect and female driver changed seats and fled, leading officers on a chase that ended at Harbor Boulevard, due to traffic gridlock.
The woman then reportedly put the car into lock while the male fled the car. He was found a short distance away. No injuries or property damage were reported.
Raquel Perez was found in the car with the other female suspects, along with her three small children. Though Perez was arrested, she was eventually released and her children were returned to her after Child Abuse Registry (CAR) reports were completed for the children, with the approval of Los Angeles Child Protective Services.