Garden Grove : Store Burglary Suspect Caught; Partner Flees

A police officer caught two burglary suspects carrying boxes out of a Radio Shack outlet in Garden Grove on Saturday evening, arrested one of them and fired two rounds at the other man as he sped away up Knott Avenue, police said.

Officer Darrow Halligan was called to the electronics store when a silent alarm went off at 7 p.m., police said, and ordered the suspects to halt when he found them at the front door.

One of the men, Ismael Moreno, 45, of Placentia, complied with the order and was taken into custody. The other man jumped into a car and put his hand inside his jacket as if drawing a gun from a shoulder holster, Garden Grove Police Sgt. Randy Tucker said.

Halligan fired two rounds at the car as it sped off, striking the window on the driver’s side, but the officer could not determine whether he had hit the man, Tucker said.

A check with area hospitals had not turned up any gunshot victims as of Sunday. The car was described as a Datsun or Toyota station wagon, and the suspect a male Latino in his 30s.

Moreno, who is being held in Orange County Jail on a burglary charge, has refused to identify the other man, Tucker said.