Menlo Park police officers lost track of two robbery suspects who crashed twice as they fled over the Dumbarton Bridge and into Union City on Tuesday afternoon, but they were eventually arrested after they tried to carjack another driver, Menlo Park police said.
The suspects kept driving after crashing into another driver, hitting the center median on state Highway 84, and swerving into oncoming traffic in Union City. Police called off the pursuit for safety reasons but the suspects were caught after a search of a Union City neighborhood, police said.
The first robbery was reported at 4:22 p.m. Tuesday in the area of Ravenswood Pier near the bridge. A man with a gun robbed a bus driver there, taking his iPad.
When Menlo Park police responded, they saw the suspected robber still in the area in a parked car with another person. The two suspects fled from police, driving east over the Dumbarton Bridge.
The officers pursued them over the bridge to the East Bay. As the suspects approached Interstate Highway 880, the driver struck another car but kept driving. He then hit the center divider but kept fleeing in the damaged car, police said.
They kept driving east on Highway 84, which eventually turns into Decoto Road. Near the intersection with Alvarado-Niles Road in Union City,the driver swerved into oncoming traffic and the officers stopped their pursuit, fearing that the suspects' erratic driving could injure pedestrians or other drivers.
But about 30 minutes later, Union City police received reports of a possible carjacking on Alvarado-Niles Road about a mile north of Decoto Road, according to Menlo Park police. Responding Union City police officers set up a perimeter and found the suspects nearby, trying to run away.
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Both suspects were arrested. Menlo Park police identified them as the two suspects who fled the pursuit and found the car they fled in abandoned in a parking lot nearby, according to Menlo Park police.
They also found the iPad stolen from the bus driver but haven't found the gun used in the robbery.
The two suspects were identified as 39-year-old Richard Espinoza of Bay Point and 38-year-old Rayna Slone of Pittsburg. Espinoza, the suspected robber and driver, was booked into San Mateo County jail on suspicion of armed robbery, evading police, hit-and-run, DUI and resisting arrest.
Slone was booked into jail on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance and resisting arrest.
Anyone who witnessed the robbery or pursuit has been asked to contact Menlo Park police Cpl. Luevano at (650) 330-6843 or a tip line at (650) 330-6395.
