On Monday, Sept. 18, Mark Stevenson was sitting in the back yard with his son.
“Saw a helicopter fly close overhead; heard sirens behind my fence on PCH,” wrote Mark Stevenson in an email to the Sun.
“My son went to look over the fence; two men jumped over at him in my backyard,” Stevenson wrote.
“My son told me to get in the house; we went to the front door,” Stevenson wrote.
“Police were aiming guns at our house. I tried to take pictures; they told me to get in the house,” Stevenson wrote.
The Sun reported on the Sept. 18 capture of three individuals suspected of stealing a car in last week’s paper.
On Sept. 19, the Sun asked Seal Beach Police Lt. Julia Clasby if there had been an unusual increase in the number of police pursuits in this area and if so, why?
Clasby is the SBPD public information officer.
Clasby’s answer and Stevenson’s photo of the police in his yard came after the paper’s editorial deadline, but the Sun wanted to share both.
“To answer your subsequent questions, pursuits more commonly occur in the area of Pacific Coast Highway rather than within residential neighborhoods as Pacific Coast Highway is a major thoroughfare and the primary roadway that connects the cities of Huntington Beach, Seal Beach, and Long Beach,” Clasby wrote.
“When criminals flee the scene in a vehicle after committing a crime, they generally make their way to a major roadway in order to exit the city quickly or enter the freeway,” Clasby wrote.
“Pursuits of possible stolen vehicles may seem to be increasing due to the prevalence of ALPRs in most cities,” Clasby wrote.
“Officers are being alerted to stolen vehicles or vehicles wanted in the commission of a felony more frequently via ALPR [Automated License Plate Recognition] when the vehicles pass through major intersections within the city limits,” Clasby wrote.
“When officers locate stolen vehicles or vehicles wanted in the commission of a felony crime, it is common for the suspects to flee the scene rather than yield in response to an officer’s initiation of a high risk traffic stop,” Clasby wrote.
“Suspects commonly flee the scene in an attempt to evade capture after committing their crimes. The consequences for the commission of a felony crime in Orange County include a trip to Orange County Jail rather than being released at the scene or with a citation,” Clasby wrote.
