The alleged robber of a 7-Eleven convenience store who was killed when his getaway SUV flipped on the Golden State (5) Freeway — creating a mammoth Friday morning traffic jam — was publicly identified today.
(Flickr)
The Los Angeles County coroner’s office said Maycol Ruiz, 19, of Ontario, was the getaway vehicle’s driver who was killed in the wreck. Traffic on the inbound Santa Ana (5), Santa Monica (10), San Bernardino(10) and Pomona (60) freeways was snarled during the Friday morning rush hour, as all mainline lanes of the northbound 5 were closed at Pasadena Avenue.
One lane of traffic was allowed to snake up the Pasadena (110) Freeway exit ramp, then jump curbs to rejoin the 5 north of the crash scene.
Ruiz was one of three men who used guns to rob the 7-Eleven convenience store in the 2000 block of East Fourth Street, at about 2 a.m. Friday. They fled by taking their red SUV onto the northbound 5, police said.
The chase began when officers spotted the SUV being driven recklessly and then learned it matched the description of a vehicle used by suspects fleeing an armed robbery at the 7-Eleven store, said Officer Christopher No of the LAPD’s Media Relations Section.
TV helicopter cameras zoomed in on a smattering of one and five dollar bills littering the freeway as the smashed SUV was hauled off. The two surviving men, also in their 20s, were hospitalized with stable life signs and unspecified injuries, and were to be booked for suspicion of robbery, police said Friday.
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