Crime & Safety
'University Lockdown' Suspects Still Being Sought
Two of five suspects involved in a robbery that led to the lockdown of Cal State Fullerton remained at large as of Friday.
Law enforcement officials remained on the lookout today for two of five men suspected of robbing a Moreno Valley jewelry store and shooting a clerk before leading officers and deputies on a four-county chase.
Three of the alleged bandits were locked up at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside after being turned over to the custody of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department Thursday.
Jerome Renard Allen, 23, Damine Lavonte Banks, 30, and Traevon Cortez Vidaud, 24 -- all of Los Angeles -- were arrested on suspicion of robbery, conspiracy and attempted murder in connection with Wednesday's hold-up at Empire Jewelry and Loan, 24571 Sunnymead Blvd.
Allen and Vidaud also are being held for alleged parole violations, and Vidaud alone was arrested for felony evading, according to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department
Only Banks was eligible to post bail -- $1 million -- but all three men remained behind bar this morning, according to sheriff's online booking records.
The men and an unidentified accomplice allegedly forced their way into the pawn shop around 3 p.m. Wednesday, leaving a fifth cohort in the driver's seat of a waiting charcoal-colored Lexus, according to the sheriff's department.
The suspects were wearing ski masks and allegedly armed with .22- and .25-caliber handguns. According to sheriff's officials, they robbed the business and shot a clerk in the process. The victim remains stable today at Riverside County Regional Medical Center.
Within 15 minutes of the robbery, the California Highway Patrol began pursuing the getaway vehicle as it headed west on the Moreno Valley (60) Freeway. The chase reached speeds of 100 miles per hour through San Bernardino County and into Los Angeles County, according to the CHP.
The robbers transitioned from the 60 to the southbound Orange (57) Freeway in Diamond Bar and made their way to Fullerton, where the chase ended on Nutwood Avenue, near Mihaylo Hall at the Cal State Fullerton campus.
Allen and Banks fled on foot and were arrested at or near the university, but another suspect is believed to have entered Mihaylo Hall and another, to have run south from the campus, according to Fullerton police Sgt. Jeff Stuart.
Vidaud allegedly carjacked a motorist near the campus, stealing his silver compact car, triggering a high-speed 20-minute chase that went west onto the Artesia (91) Freeway just as rush hour began. The suspect exited the freeway in Compton.
Vidaud allegedly plowed through multiple intersections, with police, CHP and sheriff's units close behind. He then stopped in the parking lot of the Imperial Courts Recreation Center near Alameda Street in Watts, bailed out and ran onto a baseball diamond, where law enforcement officers tackled and arrested him.
As it turned out, Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck and other members of his department were at the field, distributing gifts to children as part of a toy drive.
At Cal State Fullerton, an estimated 10,000 people, mostly students, were stranded on the campus for more than seven hours Wednesday night, hundreds of them in the rain, as authorities searched for the two still-outstanding suspects.
