CORONA DEL MAR TODAY

Man Wanted in Fashion Island Weapons Case Killed in L.A. County Shootout

A man planning to rob people at gunpoint near Fashion Island last month was killed in a Nov. 5 shootout with Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies, sources have confirmed.

Dalton Rahman, 18, was killed following a short chase in a stolen car. He crashed the car, then fled on foot to a yard of a residence in Azusa, an unincorporated area east of Pasadena, according to a statement. A police dog cornered him, but Rahman fought the dog and tried to kick through a wooden fence to try to escape. Then, as he was being restrained for arrest, he grabbed a deputy’s gun and fired several shots.

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“Another deputy, fearing for his life and the lives of the other deputies, fired several rounds at the suspect with his duty weapon,” a deputy said in a statement. Rahman was pronounced dead at the scene. No other injuries were reported.

Rahman was with two friends, both juveniles, on Oct. 6 when they took a bus from San Clemente to Newport Beach with a backpack filled with with loaded weapons — a Tec-9 pistol and a Beretta pistol — as well as loose ammunition. They were hanging out near the 24 Hour Fitness gym when a woman passing by saw them and thought they looked suspicious. She took their photos with her cell phone and called police, who began a search as the group separated and ran. (Read our earlier stories here and here.)

A police helicopter located two of the suspects near the transportation center on Avocado Avenue, where officers found the guns in the backpack. The two suspects took off again, and the police used the AlertOC system to warn nearby residents in the Big Canyon neighborhood to stay inside and beware of the possibly armed suspects. Rahman was believed to have been wearing a bulletproof vest that day.

Police later located and arrested two of the suspects, a 16-year-old male from Laguna Niguel and an 18-year-old male from San Clemente. Authorities had been on the lookout for Rahman. After he crashed the car and fled in Azusa, deputies found a bulletproof vest and other law enforcement gear on the seat.

The two suspects arrested in Newport Beach had advised police that Rahman was prepared to die.

“He has a bulletproof vest and will not go to jail,” said Lt. Rob Morton. “Maybe he thought he would go out in a blaze of glory. They were kids. They weren’t professional robbers — which made them even more dangerous.”

The police also praised the woman who reported the men originally, although they advised residents to be very careful not to confront someone who may be dangerous or armed.

“We don’t know when we go on a call what can happen,” Morton added. “It really gets your attention.”