Apr 5, 2006 9:26 pm US/Pacific
Police Nab Robbery Suspect After Brief Chase
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ―
A man suspected of stealing a black BMW convertible and robbing and hitting a gas station clerk with a crowbar was arrested Wednesday afternoon after a brief chase, police said.
The owner of the BMW reported the car was taken from his driveway near Beverly Boulevard and Union Avenue in the Westlake district about 1 p.m.
The owner told police from the Rampart Station that he left the car running and unoccupied for a moment, said Lt. Paul Vernon of the Los Angeles Police Department's Media Relations Section.
Moments later, Augustus E. Santos, 33, of Carson, stopped at a mini-mart at Temple Street and Alvarado Street and allegedly demanded gas from the sales clerk. When the clerk refused, Santos hit him with a crowbar and took
money from a cash register, then fled in the BMW, Vernon said.
Minutes later, at Beverly Boulevard and Alvarado, three blocks from the mini-mart, patrol officers spotted the BMW.
They ended the chase within 20 minutes by using a PIT maneuver at Hoover Street and Beverly.
Santos drove the BMW into a wrought iron fence, then backed up toward the officers' cars. He was boxed in, fought officers as he got out of the car, but was quickly restrained and hog-tied, Vernon said.
Santos was booked for suspicion charges of assault on police officers, evading and car theft, Vernon
said.
Santos will also be examined for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, Vernon said.
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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