Two burglars will be spending Independence Day behind bars after burglarizing Radio Shack earlier today and leading officers on a brief chase through Glendora.
Arrested were Rebecca Wechter, 29, and Cesar Morales, 32, both from Whittier, on suspicion of burglary. Wechter, the driver of the getaway vehicle, was additionally booked on suspicion of evading an officer, while Morales was additionally charged with obstructing police for running from officers.
Among the loot allegedly taken were numerous iPhone 4s, an XBox 360 and memory cards in the window smash burglary. The suspects also reportedly used fake license plates covering the real plates on their black SUV, police said.
Officers received a call at 8:52 a.m. from a samaritan in the parking lot next to Radio Shack, 830 South Grand Avenue, and described a man running into a waiting SUV, which sped northbound on Grand Avenue. Responding officers where in the area and caught up to the SUV less than a mile away, said Sergeant Mike Randazzo.
Police attempted to pull over the SUV, but the suspects refused to stop and kept driving at a slow rate of speed, winding their way northbound. The suspects heavily used alleyways to evade police, eventually stopping in the alley behind the 100 block of North Vista Bonita Avenue.
The male suspect fled and ran about a block away with officers following behind. Police eventually caught the suspect, who tried to hide in some brush and climb up a tree, Randazzo said. The female suspect remained in the SUV and was quickly arrested.
The suspects had much more property in the SUV and officers are trying to determine if it may have been stolen from other stores, police said.
Wechter and Morales are scheduled to appear in West Covina Superior Court July 6.
