Newport Beach police used the AlertOC emergency notification system for the first time earlier this month while searching for three men believed to be planning an armed robbery in Fashion Island, police told a neighborhood watch group tonight.
The incident occurred Oct. 6 when a woman leaving a Fashion Island gym noticed three young men who seemed suspicious in the way they looked and acted, said Sgt. Scott McKnight. “She decides that she’s going to note these people by taking out her cell phone and taking a photo of them,” he said.
The men noticed her taking the photo, confronted her and then took off in two different directions, McKnight said. The woman called crime prevention specialist Andrea Querry, who transferred the call to dispatchers.
The first officer arrived on scene and a helicopter began searching the area, tracking two of the men to the transportation center on Avocado Avenue, where police found a backpack containing loaded Tec-9 pistol and a Beretta pistol. The woman’s cell phone photograph showed the three men together with one carrying the same backpack, McKnight said.
The men took off again. Helicopters and K9 officers continued to search for them, flying over the BIg Canyon neighborhood. That’s when the AlertOC system went into effect, automatically calling residents to warn them to stay inside and beware of the armed suspects — one of whom was believed to be wearing a bulletproof vest.
“I’m sure some people were already alarmed because they could hear the helicopter,” McKnight said.
The system was implemented in May. McKnight said he believed this was the first time police used it. [Edit to add: The city used it for the Lido sink hole, some readers have said, but this apparently was the first use by police.]
Eventually, officers arrested two suspects: an 18-year-old San Clemente man booked on suspicion of conspiracy to commit robbery and a 16-year-old male from Laguna Niguel. Investigators have been working on finding the third suspect and developing a conspiracy to commit robbery case.
Police praised the woman who took the photo and called them to report her suspicions.
“We certainly do appreciate her willingness to get involved,” McKnight said.
Lt. Dennis Birch said citizens should feel free to call if they have a bad feeling about a situation. “We’d rather hear about than not hear,” he said. “We have a number of successes when we do get the calls. In this case, it was a thing where she just felt weird.”
Police said that while the mobile phone photograph was a huge help in the case, they urge citizens to be discreet and not attract attention from a suspect who may be armed.
