2 men plead not guilty to charges in H.B. chase that led to crash and officer-involved shooting

Two men pleaded not guilty Friday to charges related to a Huntington Beach police pursuit that ended in a collision and an officer-involved shooting two days earlier.

Qyon McCode, 19, of Costa Mesa faces six criminal counts in connection with a series of incidents following a car theft from a Placentia rental agency, according to court records.

The charges, filed Friday, include three felony counts of unlawfully taking a vehicle, second-degree burglary and reckless driving while evading a police officer, along with misdemeanor counts of possessing burglary tools, receiving stolen property and hit-and-run causing damage, court records show.

Robert Rotherham, 23, of La Palma, who was a passenger in the car, faces a felony count of unlawfully taking a vehicle and misdemeanor counts of possession of burglary tools and receiving stolen property, court records show.

The two are accused of taking a 2020 Kia from an Enterprise Rental Car location on East Orangethorpe Avenue sometime early Wednesday, according to the criminal complaint.

Just before 3 a.m., police in Huntington Beach tried to pull over a vehicle without license plates in the area of Adams Avenue and Bushard Street, police said.

According to police, the driver failed to stop and led officers on a high-speed chase to the intersection of Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway, where the driver lost control of the car and it collided with one of the pursuing police vehicles. The driver then got out and fled on foot.

After the driver ran onto Huntington City Beach with police in pursuit, an officer fired a weapon. No one was hit or injured, police said.

Police did not release additional details about the case, saying the investigation is continuing.

McCode and Rotherham are scheduled back in court March 2, court records show.

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