Man Breaks Into RivCo Homes, Steals Amazon Van, Crashes: Police

RIVERSIDE, CA — A Las Vegas faces an attempted murder charge after police said he broke into and robbed two homes in Riverside County, stole an Amazon delivery van, led police on a chase and then crashed into several cars.

Public safety officers were called for two home invasion robberies around 5:15 p.m. Monday at a mobile home park near Atlanta and Massachusetts avenues in Riverside. Investigators said they learned the suspect had also carjacked an Amazon delivery van and fled the mobile home park.

Officers contacted the Amazon driver and tracked the van's location using its GPS device. Meanwhile, authorities received reports that an Amazon delivery van crashed into parked vehicles along Arlington Avenue.

Officers spotted the delivery van about 10 minutes away on Arlington and Victoria avenues and tried to pull it over. The suspect, identified as Quintin Jarnall Larks, 32, didn't pull over and instead led officers on a chase toward the 60 Freeway, police said. He crossed the center median along Martin Luther King Boulevard, careened into a vehicle at Canyon Crest Drive then sped onto the eastbound lanes of the 60 Freeway, authorities said.

After driving several minutes on the freeway, Larks deliberately crashed into three vehicles with people inside, police said. The van became disabled near Day Street, and Larks ran across the westbound lanes of the freeway, police said. He tried to climb over a barrier wall, but pursuing officers subdued him and took him into custody, police said.

None of the victims were seriously hurt, police said, though several vehicles sustained major damage.

Larks was arrested and taken to a hospital for medical clearance. He was later booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center on charges of attempted murder, home invasion robbery, carjacking, assault with a deadly weapon, reckless evading of police, and suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs causing injury.

He was jailed on $1 million bail.

"This suspect posed a significant threat to our community," Capt. Chad Milby said in a statement. "The composure and professionalism our officers, field supervisors and dispatchers performed during this intense and chaotic situation not only led to the apprehension of a very dangerous criminal, but demonstrated the high level of training our department goes through to keep Riverside safe."

Riverside County has seen a spate of break-ins — many of them violent — in recent months.

Last month, police said a 93-year-old homeowner shot a man who police said broke into the Moreno Valley senior's home.

In May, a homeowner was critically wounded after being shot while confronting a trio of would-be burglars who broke into a Riverside home, authorities said. That same month, three residents of a Riverside home were tied up and robbed at gunpoint overnight.

And in March, a Compton man resident was arrested on suspicion of committing "numerous" break-ins in Lake Elsinore, Wildomar and Temecula.