Valkyre

A Little Too Close

The following happened just down the street from where I work. The sheriff's copter was right overhead. At the end of the private road, that the business was located on, was several police officers directing traffic onto another street. Fortunately, this guy turned down the street he did. It he had turned down our street..... Well, it comes to an end, at the gates of a business:

http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/articles/1719767.html

Torrance police kill fugitive in shootout following chase

Robert Craig, who wore a tattoo saying "blue-eyed devil" on his neck, led officers on a chase after robbery and carjacking incidents.

By Larry Altman, Melissa Milios and Josh Grossberg
Daily Breeze

A parolee's robbery and carjacking spree across Southern California came to a screeching and deadly end Wednesday when Torrance police shot him to death in a storage yard.

Robert Noble Craig, 36, of Harbor City dropped to the ground at Schimmick Auto Dismantlers at 228th Street and Normandie Avenue near Harbor Gateway. Witnesses heard four to six gun blasts.

Craig, with a tattoo saying "blue-eyed devil" on his neck, was pronounced dead at County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

"What a way to end your life," said William Villarino, who saw Craig crash and run from his stolen Ford Freestyle, taken in a carjacking earlier in the day.

Orange County sheriff's deputies had issued a wanted flier Monday identifying Craig as a suspect in a series of armed holdups, including a Walgreens in Laguna Hills and Hunny's Restaurant in Mission Viejo on Saturday, said Orange County Sheriff's Department spokesman Jim Amormino.

"We were able to capture very clear surveillance tape from the Walgreens robbery," Amormino said. "We released it Monday, and Torrance and LAPD contacted us and said they recognized the suspect in our robbery as the same individual that was wanted for robberies in Lomita, Harbor City and Torrance."

Around 10 a.m. Wednesday, an Orange County sheriff's deputy patrolling a Best Western parking lot in San Juan Capistrano saw a "suspicious" man loading items into a car, Amormino said.

"The deputy went to question him, and when he got out of the car the deputy noticed the tattoo on the left side of his neck, the same as the suspect," Amormino said. "He started fighting with the deputy, who was knocked to the ground, and the suspect was able to break away."

The man, believed to be Craig, ran and told the deputy he had a gun. He jumped over a wall and tried to take a man's car at knifepoint, but the elderly man fought him off.

Craig then ran to a 2005 Ford Freestyle.

"A man and his small child were in that vehicle," Amormino said. "The suspect pulls a knife out, puts it to the man's throat. The (victim) grabs the child and gets out of the car."

Craig drove away and a few minutes later entered a Pets Plus in Mission Viejo.

Employee Leigh Ann Fletcher said he pretended to have a gun under his shirt, nudged the owner in the shoulder and demanded money.

"It was quick," she said. "Nobody got hurt. They gave him what he wanted and he left."

Fletcher estimated that the robber got away with $100 to $200 because the store had been open only a few minutes.

About five hours later, Craig was seen near Torrance, where undercover officers were waiting.

Torrance police Lt. Rod Irvine said the officers tried to stop Craig, but he raced away, triggering a brief high-speed chase that would come to an end because of some loose dirt in the roadway.

Radio engineer Bob Burchett said the Ford Freestyle came flying along Mariposa Avenue.

"We figure he was doing 100 mph. He was hauling," said Burchett, overseeing a renovation project that included digging trenches for new sewer lines. The Ford's right tire hit a patch of dirt in the street.

"He just went sideways. He lost control," he said. "He fishtailed up to the corner."

Unable to make a left turn at 228th Street, Craig crashed into a fence and 40-foot container at the edge of the dismantling yard, owner Bob Schimmick said. The container buckled.

"He ran head-on into that thing," said Villarino, who watched the end of the chase with his stepfather, Valentino Porcaro.

Porcaro said the Ford Freestyle bounced off the fence. Craig jumped out, unscathed and ran into the dismantling yard.

A Nissan Altima and about four other unmarked police cars swarmed in. Seconds later, the men heard three shots, then another three shots.

"We have 3 acres here," Schimmick said. "He ran from the south end of the property to one of the many storage units. I was getting ready to go to lunch. I saw guys running with guns and then heard 'pop, pop, pop.' "

Torrance police did not release details of the shooting. It was unclear Wednesday afternoon whether Craig was armed, what provoked the shooting and how many officers fired their weapons. Officers spent the evening searching the property.

Police in Orange County found cash and two loaded handguns in a search of Craig's Best Western motel room.

In all, Craig was wanted for 17 armed robberies in Southern California, including four in Torrance.

Craig was a third-strike candidate with a criminal history dating back about 15 years, state Department of Corrections records showed.

He was arrested for robbery in 1991 in Torrance and was sentenced in 1992 to seven years in state prison.

Police at the time said Craig snatched a purse from a woman while Troy James Roderick, 26, of Torrance and Christina Marie Pollard, 22, of Harbor City waited in a truck.

Craig was released on parole in 1995, but was returned to prison for about a month on a parole violation less than a year later.

In 1997, he returned to prison for another robbery conviction, but served only three months of a three-year sentence before being released.

Craig was convicted again in October 2002 for resisting an officer and possession of methamphetamine.

He was last paroled in February 2004, but was wanted by authorities because he failed to report to his parole officer.

Posted by Valkyre at July 21, 2005 07:14 PM