Alert system used in robbery attempt

Newport Beach police are pointing to an Oct. 6 incident at Fashion Island that involved a potential armed robbery as the first successful real life application by police officers of Orange County’s AlertOC system, which automatically calls residents with emergency information.

As a helicopter circled above and police spread out near Fashion Island about 11 a.m., an automated, AlertOC call went out to 920 phones in the Big Canyon community.

It was the first time that Newport Beach police have had to use AlertOC since it was launched in May, police said.

The countywide system automatically calls land lines and other registered phone numbers with recorded emergency information. Authorities can target certain neighborhoods for the calls as needed.

“We currently have numerous police officers, K9 officers, and a police helicopter conducting a search for a subject who may or may not be armed. We are requesting that all residents stay in your houses with your doors and windows locked,” the message instructed.

One of three suspects had jumped a wall into the neighborhood, said Lt. Craig Fox.

“It was a very helpful tool. It gave residents who’d seen the helicopter overhead and those inside who didn’t hear anything, information about what was going on and to stay inside,” Fox said.

A woman in a parking lot at Fashion Island had noticed three suspicious men, one of whom carried a backpack. She took a picture of them on her mobile phone and then called police.

The men spotted the woman and dispersed, Fox said.

Police swarmed the area and confronted two of the men near Fashion Island’s transportation center near San Joaquin Hills Road and MacArthur Boulevard.

Police arrested a 16-year-old from Laguna Niguel and Frank Brian Farey, 18, of San Clemente on suspicion of conspiracy to commit robbery.

Inside the backpack police found a loaded Tec-9 pistol. They also recovered a Beretta handgun nearby, authorities said.

The third man was not located and police are still investigating, Fox said. Detectives are not sure who or what the men intended to rob, he said.