Woman killed in botched robbery on Fashion Island in Newport Beach

A quiet summer afternoon at Newport Beach’s upscale Fashion Island shopping center ended in violence Tuesday, with a woman killed after a botched robbery.

At least two men attacked and attempted to rob the 69-year-old woman and her husband near the Barnes & Noble bookstore in the mall, a police source said. Authorities said shots were fired, but no one was hit by gunfire.

Sergeant Steven Oberon of the Newport Beach Police Department said in a press conference Tuesday that the couple was walking on Fashion Island when they were approached by two male suspects who attempted to rob them.

A scuffle ensued, the woman was dragged into a parking lot and then run over by the suspect’s white Toyota Camry. Oberon said the woman’s husband is believed to be unharmed.

After the incident, police pursued the suspects. The chase took them into Los Angeles County. During the chase, the fleeing driver allegedly let at least one accomplice get out before he and another man sped off. According to police and a video of the chase shown on several local television stations, they eventually jumped out of the car in South Gate and fled on foot.

The victims were not immediately identified.

News footage showed a shirtless man being arrested minutes after he jumped from the driver’s side of the car.

The shooting occurred shortly after 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday at a normally peaceful shopping center on a cliff overlooking the sea in the affluent coastal community.

The Newport Beach Fire Department said they found a dead person in the parking lot next to the bookstore.

Authorities reported that the Camry reached speeds of up to 110 mph (177 km/h) as it headed north. A news helicopter filmed the car as it sped onto the left shoulder of Interstate 105, at one point clipping the concrete median.

Aerial footage later showed two men jumping out of the car and running into a neighborhood near Harding Avenue and Hoover Avenue in South Gate.

Authorities asked residents to avoid the mall around 4 p.m. while they investigated the incident. Police officers were on the scene evacuating people to safety, and helicopters flew over the building.

A woman who did not want to give her name but was shopping in the area on Monday described the situation as a “big commotion.” She is from Los Angeles and is grateful that the police responded quickly.

A young man who wishes to remain anonymous said he was at the Enoteca CUCINA in Fashion Island at the time of the incident.

“About 20 people ran and shouted, ‘Someone shoot!’ They locked us in the restaurant,” he said.

City News Service contributed to this report. Winton and Rainey are Times editors. Nguyen and Hoffman are editors of the Daily Pilot, a sister publication of the Times.