Santa Clarita deputies arrested two vehicle burglary suspects in Valencia who allegedly attempted to break into a car parked in the middle of a police operation for an unrelated robbery Saturday, officials said.
SCV Sheriff’s Station deputies first received a call around 2 p.m., alleging a suspect had stolen a Samsung smartphone from another individual near the Valencia Promenade apartments off Fairway Street and Magic Mountain Parkway, Lt. Leo Bauer of the SCV Sheriff’s Station said.
The smartphone robbery suspect fled the scene, Bauer said, but deputies responded to the report and set up a perimeter around the Valencia Promenade apartment complex where the robbery had taken place, utilizing dozens of deputies to search the area.
“We had deputies from both day shift and (night) shift on scene,” said Bauer. So there were a lot of officers there, he added.
However, the large police presence did not deter two suspects from allegedly committing an unrelated crime within the area under containment, officials said.
“That was a separate incident within the incident,” he said. “During the process of the containment, deputies observed two males breaking into a car, so they ended up arresting them for vehicle burglary, which is a felony.”
Multiple people were detained during the robbery investigation, including one from the balcony of an apartment; however, deputies were not able to net the actual strong arm robber, Bauer said.
“There was a primary suspect, of course, and that person is not in custody,” Bauer said. “We detained some people and they ended up not being the suspect.”
The incident prompted a large-scale response, which included air support, from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
While the car robbery suspects are in custody, the department, he said, is still pursuing leads concerning the whereabouts of the Samsung phone robbery suspect.
“The suspect may be a local person,” Bauer said, “so deputies are continuing their investigation.”
