2 held in robbery of cell phone store after wild chase

Two suspects in a brazen daylight robbery of a cell phone store in American Canyon on Saturday were booked into Napa County Jail after leading police and a California Highway Patrol aircraft on a chase in two counties.

Investigators said Lamar Crawford, 20, of San Francisco and Alexander Briones, 23, of Oakland were arrested and will face felony charges after they attempted to evade police by changing cars in Contra Costa County, which allowed officers to converge on them.

The trouble began at 5:40 p.m. when two men wearing hoodies entered a T-Mobile store in the southern Napa County town of American Canyon and began ripping cell phones and Apple watches from the store’s displays, police said.

The men ran out of the store with the loot and jumped into a black Lexus. Witnesses reported seeing them head north on Highway 29. An American Canyon patrol car caught up to the vehicle and attempted to make a traffic stop, but the Lexus suddenly accelerated, leading police to call off the vehicular pursuit, according to a department news release.

The CHP aircraft spotted the fleeing Lexus and tracked it after a description was put out over police radios. The suspects drove the Lexus to Concord, swapped vehicles and drove the new getaway car to Pittsburg, where they tried to make another switch, but police were waiting for them.

Briones, who had seven warrants for his arrest in three counties, “violently resisted arrest and was taken into custody after a short struggle and the assistance of a Pittsburg Police K9, ‘Kyra,’ ” the release said. Briones was later treated for bite wounds, police said.

Crawford, who is listed as a San Francisco transient, fled on foot and was captured a short time later, police said.

Both men were charged with felonies for robbery, burglary, recklessly evading police and hit-and-run. They were being held Sunday in Napa County Jail on $100,000 bail. Briones, who was also charged with resisting arrest, had an additional $725,000 tacked onto his bail for the outstanding warrants.