Pair Sentenced In Highland Park Robbery And Police Chase

LOS ANGELES, CA — A Highland Park man was handed a two-year state prison term for leading police on a chase that wound across freeways and streets in downtown Los Angeles before ending with a crash into a bus stop last November.

Enrique Edward Rugelio, 31, pleaded no contest Monday to one felony count of fleeing a pursuing police officer's motor vehicle while driving recklessly, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

Rugelio agreed to waive credit for the time he had already served behind bars following his Nov. 27 arrest.

Co-defendant Christian Manuel Cuevas, 36, of Las Vegas, pleaded no contest to a felony count of robbery involving a holdup at an auto repair shop in Highland Park and admitted that he had personally used a firearm during the commission of the robbery. He was sentenced to seven years in state prison.

Cuevas pointed a gun at the store's proprietor during the robbery, and a car battery was taken, according to the District Attorney's Office.

Police were called and spotted the pair's vehicle pulling into a gas station, with the two men subsequently fleeing.

Cuevas led police on a chase on several area freeways and through downtown Los Angeles before the SUV crashed into a bus stop near the intersection of Echo Park Avenue and Sunset Boulevard and both men made a failed attempt to flee on foot.

City News Service