Carjacking Suspects Fall Into Custody

Three suspects in a carjacking were arrested at an Irvine manufacturing plant Thursday, one of them after falling through the building’s ceiling and almost literally into the arms of police officers.

Lt. Sam Allevato, a spokesman for the Irvine Police Department, said the incident began shortly after 2 p.m. when a group of people accosted a man eating lunch in his car at Pullman Avenue and Daimler Street.

The carjackers, one of whom brandished a small-caliber pistol, ordered the man out of his black Jeep Cherokee and drove off in it.

The motorist called police, who spotted the car nearby and followed it to Ricoh Inc., a manufacturer of toners for copy machines. The carjackers parked in front of the facility at 1062 McGaw Ave. and entered the plant, Allevato said.

About 125 employees were evacuated while police officers with dogs searched the premises, Allevato said. They arrested two 15-year-old girls, who were brought to the officers by a male employee, and a 28-year-old man who tried to hide in the attic but fell through the ceiling and landed in the cafeteria, which some officers were searching.

The identities of the girls, both from Santa Ana, were withheld because of their age. The man was identified as Miguel A. Espirito, also of Santa Ana.

Police were still searching for two other suspects late Thursday.