A quiet summer afternoon at the upscale Fashion Island mall in Newport Beach turned violent Tuesday when a woman was killed after a botched robbery attempt.
Two men harassed the 69-year-old woman and her husband near the mall's Barnes & Noble bookstore, authorities said. Shots were fired, but police said no one was injured.
The couple was walking on Fashion Island when two men approached them and attempted to rob them, according to Sgt. Steven Oberon of the Newport Beach Police Department.
A struggle ensued and the woman was dragged into a parking lot, where the suspects' white Toyota Camry ran her over. Oberon said the woman's husband was believed to be uninjured.
The victims were not immediately identified.
Police pursued the suspects after the incident, a chase that took them into Los Angeles County. Authorities reported the Camry reached speeds of up to 110 mph as it headed north. A television news helicopter captured video of the car speeding onto the left shoulder of the 105 Freeway and at one point skimming the concrete center median.
During the chase, the hit-and-run driver allegedly let at least one accomplice out before he and another man sped off. The pair eventually jumped out of the car in South Gate and fled on foot along Harding and Hoover avenues, according to police and video of the chase that was shown on several local television news stations.
News footage showed a bare-chested man being arrested minutes after jumping out of the driver's side of the car. Three suspects were eventually arrested.
The shooting happened shortly after 3:30 p.m. Tuesday at what is known as a normally quiet strip mall, which sits on a bluff above the ocean in the wealthy coastal community.
The Newport Beach Fire Department said it found one person dead in the parking lot adjacent to the bookstore.
Authorities warned residents in the area around 4 p.m. to avoid the mall while they investigated the incident. Police were seen on the scene directing the public to safety and helicopters were hovering overhead.
A woman who was shopping in the area on Tuesday described the situation as a “commotion.” She said she was from Los Angeles and was grateful that police responded quickly. She declined to give her name.
A young man who asked not to be identified said he was at the Cucina wine bar on Fashion Island when the incident occurred.
“There were about 20 people running around shouting, ‘Someone’s shooting! ’ They locked us in the restaurant,” he said.
“This doesn’t happen in Newport Beach,” Mayor Will O’Neill told KCAL-9 News. “Fashion Island is an incredibly safe place. This is a tragedy and I’m furious.”
City News Service contributed to this report. Winton and Rainey are staff writers at The Times. Nguyen and Hoffman are staff writers at The Daily Pilot, a sister publication of The Times.
