Alert Lyft Driver Helps Claremont Police Nab Suspect Thief

CLAREMONT, CA — One man is in custody in connection to a commercial burglary in Claremont— all thanks to an alert Lyft driver in the area and some bad planning by the alleged criminals, police say.

According to Claremont police, the incident happened around midnight Friday at the Chevron Gas Station near Arrow Highway and Indian Hill Boulevard.

A Lyft driver who was stopped at the intersection apparently spotted two suspects break the front glass door at the station, burglarize the place and flee in a van driven by a third suspect, police said.

"The Lyft driver followed the suspects who ran out of gas and fled from their van and into a commercial complex in Montclair," police said in a news release Friday. "An extensive area search was
conducted and the driver was located and arrested for burglary."

Though the driver was caught, the two other suspects were not found, according to police. That driver was identified as 27-year-old Juan Martinez of Long Beach.

"During an interview, he admitted to being in the area of Wolf’s Market where a burglary occurred prior to the burglary at Chevron Gas," police said, adding that the man was taken to the local jail in lieu of $20,000 bail.

Police say they are still looking for the two other suspects in this case, described as "... a short male Hispanic in his 20’s wearing a gray and white hooded sweatshirt and black sweat pants.... [and a] tall male black in his 20’s wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and gray sweat pants."

Anyone with information related to the case is asked to call Claremont police at (909) 399-5411.

(Image via Shutterstock)