Police Arrest Two Suspects in Crime Spree

Two men suspected in a series of rapes and robberies in Las Palmas, Cerritos, Cypress and Long Beach were arrested Tuesday following a brief car and foot chase by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies.

The men, identified as Terrance Lavelle Joiner, 25, of Compton, and Mario Cummings, 23, of Long Beach, were in a car that ran a red light in Long Beach, according to Deputy Roger Hom. The ensuing car chase ended in the 5700 block of Cherry Avenue, where the suspects hit a parked car and tried to run away.

Joiner was arrested at the scene. Cummings was found hiding in a bush a few blocks away by police dogs.

The men are suspected of being two of the three men involved in a crime spree that began at 10 p.m. Sunday in La Palma. First, a 21-year-old man and a 16-year-old woman were assaulted, and one of the men threatened the couple with a submachine gun. A short time later, three men with a semiautomatic weapon robbed an 18-year-old couple and raped the woman.

The pair arrested Tuesday are also suspected in similar robberies and rapes in Cypress and Long Beach, Hom said.

Cummings, who had been free on parole, was held without bail. Bail was set at $20,000 for Joiner. The men were charged with robbery, rape, resisting arrest, battery on a peace officer, kidnaping and assault with a deadly weapon.