Police chase crosses campus

By MAURICE O. NDOLE

A car chase on the Fresno State campus ended with no arrests after burglary suspects abandoned their getaway car at the North Park apartment complex, off Shaw and Woodrow avenues, and got away.

The chase started at about 5:30 p.m. after the suspects allegedly burglarized the Bulldog Shop on Cedar and Barstow avenues, university police sergeant Lupe Shrum said.
Brian Uhlrle, a supervisor at the Bulldog Shop, said they had to close the shop

early because of the burglary.

“When the police came, I decided to close the shop because some customers were getting scared,” Uhlrle said.

He said they learned of the burglary from a customer.

“It’s just a customer who saw them and told us that they were leaving with the clothes,” Uhlrle said.
There were conflicting reports about the number and the gender of the suspects.

“There were two people: a woman and a kid,” Uhlrle said.

Shrum said they had no suspects in custody but were looking for three or four suspects.

Most people interviewed referred to the suspects as if they were male.

The car, a Buick Skylark, broke through a barricade near the Thomas Administration building and sped over the pavement and lawn near the Rose Garden between the Speech Arts building and Thomas Administration, with a police car, siren blaring, in hot pursuit.

The car hit a cement bench, which university police said weighed at least 600 pounds, near the Rose Garden and dragged it several yards. The car also knocked down a staked tree in the submarine memorial area near the Joyal Administration Building.

A team of five squad cars comprised of university police and Fresno Police Department K-9 units searched the surrounding area for the suspects without success.

Inside the car, police recovered clothing with bulldog logos and price tags on them. They also recovered a cell phone, which indicated six missed calls, university police sergeant Leonard Abbott said.

Liberal studies major Isabel Ortega said she was surprised by the chase.

“I heard the sirens first, and then I heard a crash,” Ortega said.

University High School student Carlos Ybarra said he saw the car speeding past a barricade.

“I saw him drive very fast and he hit the barricade,” Ybarra said. “That’s what drew my attention.”

Ken Bolling, a community service specialist at Fresno State, said he heard about the chase over his radio and soon saw the car barreling toward him.

“I heard that he was not stopping, and sure enough, he ran through the barricade. He was flying away,” Bolling said. “I jumped out of the way, he missed me by about seven feet.”