Car Crash Ends Wild Chase After Bungled Newport Beach Robbery
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A man fleeing a bungled robbery at a Newport Beach cleaners jumped into a car stopped at a red light at the intersection of East Balboa Boulevard and Palm Street, forced the driver out at gunpoint, and led police on a wild chase through city streets. He was arrested after crashing the car into a utility pole in the Marina Park Mobile Home Park in the 200 block of 15th Street, police said.
Police identified the suspect as John S. Nielsen, 30, of Newport Beach. He was arrested on a charge of kidnaping for robbery in connection with the 1:40 p.m. incident and was being held in the jail ward of UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange in lieu of $100,000 bail, police said. Police said he suffered a broken leg and other internal injuries in the crash.
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