Three arrests after auto sales-lot burglary, wrong-way I-80 escape

Three East Bay men are behind bars on suspicion of stealing wheels and tires from a Placer County auto-sales lot in an early morning heist that was thwarted by a burglar alarm. But the arrest was far from easy, with a fleeing getaway van traveling the wrong way on Interstate 80 between Colfax and Auburn and two of the three men fleeing on foot in the Clipper Gap area. The early morning pursuit came after the Winner Chevrolet alarm was tripped at 2 a.m. and a blue minivan sped out of the South Canyon Way auto dealership in Colfax. Spotted and followed, the minivan got onto I-80 traveling east on westbound lanes, eventually eluding pursuers. At one point, one of the occupants jumped or was pushed from the vehicle, the Placer County Sheriff's Office said. The van was spotted again and stopped at Lake Arthur Road in the Clipper Gap area, a Sheriff's Office report said. The two remaining occupants of the vehicle ran away from the vehicle. All three men were eventually located, with help from the Auburn California Highway Patrol, Auburn Police and people in the vicinity who called 911 to report suspicious activity, the Sheriff's Office said. Arrested were Dominique Vontee Mills, 37, of Pittsburg, Larry C. Ward, 64, of Oakland, and Melvin Deshawn Zachery, 23, of Bay Point, near Pittsburg. The Sheriff's Office said all three men remained in jail this week. The arrests took place May 15. Winner Chevrolet reported wheels and tires stolen from several vehicles were valued at about $10,000. There was also "significant damage" to the undercarriages of several vehicles, the Sheriff's Office said.