Advertisement Capitola lingerie thieves nabbed on Highway 17 Share Shares Copy Link Copy

A group of serial lingerie thieves led police from Capitola to Santa Cruz Monday as a high speed chase reached speeds of 115 mph. Four young women were arrested at gunpoint on Highway 17 near Scotts Valley. The chase began at the Capitola Mall when a Capitola Police Department officer spotted a black VW Jetta that was connected to an ongoing Victoria's Secret lingerie theft investigation. A group of women from Oakland have targeted the Capitola Mall's Victoria's Secret store multiple times over the course of several weeks, swiping thousands of dollars worth of merchandise, police said. They stashed stacks of bras and underwear in bags lined with foil so door detectors don't go off. "They keep doing it over and over," police said. One mall employee told KSBW that she has witnessed the group running through the mall during past burglaries. The Capitola Mall's Victoria's Secret was burglarized twice in just the past two days. When the group stole more lingerie at 11:40 a.m. Monday, an officer saw their Jetta pulling out of the mall's parking lot. The officer called for backup from the California Highway Patrol as he chased the Jetta along 41st Avenue, Capitola police Sgt. Cliff Sloma said. The pursuit continued southbound on Highway 1 until the Jetta exited at Rio Del Mar Boulevard in Aptos and sped back onto Highway 1 northbound, Sloma said. The chase was called off at 12:05 p.m. as the Jetta recklessly wove between traffic around the fishhook and sped into downtown Santa Cruz. The risk to public safety was too high. "Something tragic could have happened," CHP Sgt. Grant Boles said. Police knew that the women would eventually attempt to drive north back to Oakland, so officers were staked out at key positions along Highway 17. Just before 12:30 p.m., Scotts Valley Police Department officers pulled the Jetta over at gunpoint on Highway 17 near Sugarloaf Road. More than $1,000 worth of stolen lingerie was found inside the car.RAW VIDEO: Four women arrested at gunpoint on Highway 17 Two teenage girls and two women were arrested and taken into custody. Their names were not immediately released. They will be charged with felony evading and burglary, Sloma said. No injuries or collisions resulted from the incident.