3 suspects in theft of guns arrested after car chase
Three men suspected of stealing guns from a Costa Mesa home Wednesday were arrested by Newport Beach police after a short car chase, according to authorities.
The incident started at 9:42 p.m. when a Newport Beach resident in the 1600 block of Highland reported she had seen three people run from a nearby home where an alarm was sounding, police said.
The resident watched as the trio piled into a red four-door Mercedes-Benz and drove off, Newport Beach police spokeswoman Jennifer Manzella said.
An officer responded to the home and found pry marks on a door frame, Manzella said. However, it appeared the burglars fled before they could get inside, according to police.
Around the same time, another officer saw the red Mercedes on Irvine Avenue, police said.
He tried to pull the car over after it turned onto Mesa Drive, but the driver refused to stop, Manzella said. Officers pursued the car to Newport Boulevard, where they disabled it using a PIT maneuver, according to police.
“The suspects were taken into custody at gunpoint without incident,†Manzella said.
Police said they found stolen property in the car, including a loaded handgun and an unloaded assault rifle.
Police believe all the property had been stolen about an hour earlier from a home in Eastside Costa Mesa.
Newport Beach police identified the suspects as Walter Scott Horne, 37, Jeffrey Hanney, 23, and Davion Jasper, 24, all of Los Angeles, Manzella said.
Horne was booked on suspicion of possession of burglary tools, attempted residential burglary, conspiracy, possession of a stolen loaded firearm, possession of a firearm with a prior felony conviction and possession of stolen property. He is free on $50,000 bail, police said.
Hanney was booked on suspicion of possession of burglary tools, attempted residential burglary, conspiracy, possession of a stolen loaded firearm and possession of stolen property. He is being held at Orange County Jail with bail set at $50,000, according to authorities.
Jasper was booked on suspicion of possession of burglary tools, attempted residential burglary, conspiracy, possession of a stolen loaded firearm, possession of stolen property, felony evading police and a warrant for driving with a suspended license. He is being held at Orange County Jail with bail set at $80,000, authorities said.
