A man suspected of opening fire with a pistol inside an Oceanside Target store after being detained on suspicion of shoplifting was arrested Friday along with an accomplice following a carjacking and road chase in Orange County.
Dennis Lam, 28, was captured in the Silverado Canyon area, according to police. Also taken into custody was Ana Molina, age unknown, Oceanside Police Sgt. Rick Favela said.
California Highway Patrol personnel began pursuing the couple on State Route 133 shortly before 7 a.m., according to Favela. It was not immediately clear how long the chase lasted or what ended it.
The car Lam was driving had been stolen earlier in the morning during a violent carjacking that sent the victim to a hospital, the sergeant said.
On Thursday afternoon, Lam allegedly pulled a revolver and fired two shots into the floor of the discount store in the 2500 block of South El Camino Real as a security guard was trying to escort him to an office for questioning about a suspected theft of merchandise, according to police, who said there were no reported injuries.
In the ensuing panic, the suspect ran off with a female companion believed to have been Molina, got into a black late-model BMW with her and sped off to the west on Vista Way.
