HUNTINGTON BEACH : 3 Rob Jewelry Store; 2 Suspects Held

Two robbery suspects were arrested Friday after a freeway car chase during which they allegedly threw bags of loot out the window, Huntington Beach police said.

The names of the two suspects, both men, were not disclosed. They are suspected of having participated with a third man in an armed robbery Friday afternoon of the Best Jewelry store at 7777 Edinger Ave.

Huntington Beach Police Sgt. Lloyd Edwards said that three armed men entered the store about 2:15 p.m. wearing ski masks, black jackets and gloves. They confronted two clerks and stuffed about $100,000 worth of merchandise into pillowcases.

Two of the men were seen driving off in a car later determined to be stolen. The men changed getaway cars, authorities said, and law enforcement officers started going after the suspects as they drove north on the San Diego Freeway.

Huntington Beach police were joined by officers from Westminster, Los Alamitos and the California Highway Patrol in pursuing the suspects as they turned north onto the San Gabriel River Freeway. The chase reached speeds of 95 m.p.h.

The suspects were seen dumping jewelry out of the windows as they drove, Edwards said. Their car eventually came to a stop near the Whittier Boulevard exit, and the suspects tried to escape by running down an embankment, authorities said. Both men were being held at Huntington Beach jail on suspicion of robbery, he said.

The third man was still at large, police said.

All of the loot, including the jewelry thrown onto the freeway, was recovered, Edwards said.