1 man arrested, another sought after pursuits spurred by vehicle break-ins

One man was arrested and police are searching for another after two men broke into cars Friday morning in Fountain Valley, fled in separate vehicles and crashed both cars, according to the Fountain Valley Police Department.

Officers responded to the area of Brookhurst Street and Stilbite Avenue at 3:09 a.m. regarding a report of two men breaking into vehicles, the department said.

Officers found two men getting into separate vehicles parked nearby and tried to stop them.

One man fled north on Brookhurst in a Suzuki SUV, police said. He pulled into a parking lot in the 15600 block in Westminster and crashed into a sign post as officers tried to stop the vehicle.

The man then fled on foot.

Police said they found property stolen from vehicles in the area and discovered that the SUV was stolen from Fountain Valley earlier in the evening.

Noah Hansen, 19, of Anaheim was arrested after a short pursuit and was booked into Orange County Jail on suspicion of possession of a stolen vehicle and evading police, authorities said.

The man in the other vehicle, a white Ford F-150 pickup that had been reported stolen from Anaheim, also fled north on Brookhurst, police said.

Police pursued the vehicle to eastbound Trask Avenue, from where it entered the westbound 22 Freeway, authorities said.

The man tried to exit the freeway at Brookhurst Street at a high speed and crashed into a guardrail, causing the truck to become disabled, police said.

The man then fled on foot into a residential tract, according to police.

The Garden Grove and Westminster police departments were called to help search for the man, but he had not been found as of early Friday afternoon.

Police said they found property stolen from several vehicles in the truck.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Fountain Valley police Lt. Robert Sweaza at (714) 593-4489.