3 Held in Armed Robberies Including Carjacking

HUNTINGTON BEACH —  Three Huntington Park males identified by police as gang members have been arrested on suspicion of armed robbery in connection with a rash of Orange County crimes in January, including one carjacking.

Aurelio Aguilar, 22, and Bardo Moses Nava, 18, are being held at the Huntington Beach City Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail each, and the third suspect, a 17-year-old, was being held Tuesday at Orange County Juvenile Hall, police said. The juvenile’s name was withheld because of his age.

Police suspect the trio in four armed robberies Jan. 24 in three Orange County cities by a group of men driving a minivan, Huntington Beach Police Lt. Dan Johnson said.

The crime spree began with an armed robbery in the 9000 block of Warner Avenue in Fountain Valley at 8:30 p.m., followed an hour later by a similar crime at the intersection of Harbor Boulevard and Gisler Avenue in Costa Mesa, police said. Next, at 10:45 p.m., a pedestrian was held up at the intersection of Slater Avenue and Beach Boulevard in Huntington Beach, Johnson said.

The fourth robbery was the carjacking of a Mercedes-Benz stopped at the intersection of Golden West Street and Yorktown Avenue, also in Huntington Beach, Johnson said.

Huntington Beach resident Sharon Matlock told police some men in a minivan bumped her car and, when she got, showed her a handgun, police said. Matlock ran, and the men took the car, police said. Police recovered it 30 minutes later, but missing were Matlock’s purse, with $709 in cash, and other property.

The three suspects were arrested without incident Friday at their homes, Johnson said.