Car Chase Ends with Bagel Customer Tackling Female Fugitive

A woman who led authorities on a high-speed chase was arrested Wednesday after she jumped out of her SUV in Lake Forest and was tackled by an off-duty deputy who frequents a nearby bagel shop, according to officials and witnesses.

The pursuit began around 8:30 a.m., after California Highway Patrol officers responded to reports of a disabled SUV along the center divider of the 241 tollway, said the CHP's Sgt. Pines.

When officers pulled up behind the SUV, the driver sped away, officials said. Orange County sheriff's deputies soon joined the pursuit.

One woman recounted the scene on Facebook:

"There was just a high speed chase that ended w/a foot pursuit into the Ralphs parking lot on Lake Forest & Trabuco," Terri Lynn Cole wrote. "A morning regular of Bagels & Brew tackled the girl who ran. Cops cuffed her and took her away."

Witnesses at the scene told Patch the woman, driving a beige SUV, raced down Lake Forest Drive and plowed over some bushes as she drove into the shopping plaza parking lot. She then fled on foot into a CVS pharmacy, where a bagel shop regular followed and grabbed her.

The bagel shop customer turned out to be an off-duty sheriff's deputy, authorities said later. And the SUV was stolen, they said.

Denise Beever said she was driving on Lake Forest Drive when the SUV blew past her.

"I thought, 'My goodness, someone is really in a hurry to get to school,' " she recalled.

Witnesses said the woman had a male passenger who surrendered immediately when deputies approached the vehicle.

Driver Melanie Ybarrondo, 32, of Hemet, and passenger Milo William Parker, 27, of Laguna Beach were arrested on suspicion of vehicle theft and evading an officer, the CHP said.

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story had Bagels & Brew employees describing the tackler as an airport security worker. He was an off-duty sheriff's deputy.