Suspected Robbers Flee OC Over The Ortega Highway To Lake Elsinore; 3 Arrests Made

, resulted in three arrests, an official is reporting.

The incident began around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday when officers from the Costa Mesa Police Department responded to a robbery call at Ramsay Rexall Drugs on Newport Road in Costa Mesa.

According to a report from Costa Mesa’s Lt. Greg Scott, two male suspects entered the pharmacy and one threatened store employees with a knife while demanding cash and drugs. After getting the goods, the suspects fled the store, but not before running into a FedEx employee who was delivering a box to the pharmacy, Scott reported.

The robbers "forcibly grabbed the box" from the FedEx driver before making a getaway in a blue, older model Lincoln Town Car with tinted windows driven by a third suspect, Scott continued.

Pharmacy employees were able to get a partial license plate number on the suspect vehicle, Scott said. A description of the car and suspects was broadcast to law enforcement agencies across Orange County, and at around 10 a.m. an Orange County Sheriff’s Department employee spotted the suspects heading east on the Ortega Highway, the lieutenant added.

The California Highway Patrol and the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department were contacted for assistance, and as the suspects entered the Lakeland Village/Lake Elsinore area, police pulled the car over and arrested two suspects. The third suspect made a run for it, and entered into a residential neighborhood in Lakeland Village. A perimeter was set up and the third suspected robber was captured near Marian Avenue and Sangston Drive.

There were no reports of injured residents. 

The suspects were identified as Roger B. Jones, 48, of Perris; Derek J. Lloyd, 30, of Perris; and Marquis T. Blunt, 27, of Sun City.

The three men were transported to the Costa Mesa Police Department Jail and booked on charges of armed robbery. Each is being held in lieu of $100,000. Booking photos of the suspects are being withheld because police are in the process of confirming whether the men had been involved in similar crimes across the region, Scott said.

During the investigation, police found drugs and less than $100 that had been stolen from the pharmacy, Scott said.

Anyone with information can contact Costa Mesa Police Department’s Sgt. Ed Everett at 714-754-5395 or Det. Bang Le at 714-754-5361.