Five people were arrested Wednesday in connection with a string of residential burglaries in Irvine, authorities said.

Verasm Kevin Eam, 22; Ferdinand Morales Franco, 32; Tracy Nan, 32; and Kevin Paul Williams, 30, all of Long Beach, are suspected of committing four burglaries in the Northwood Pointe neighborhood, Irvine Police spokeswoman Kim Mohr said.

In addition, Terry Nguyen Huynh, 21, of Newport Beach is suspected of being an accessory, she added.

Canyon View Elementary was placed on lockdown and Northwood High put on a “soft” lockdown during the search, police said.

Around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 4, police received a report of a residential burglary in progress on Lynnfield with the suspects fleeing in a black Lexus, Mohr said.

Kevin Paul Williams , 30 of Long Beach. (Photo Courtesy Irvine Police Department)

Tracy Nan, 32, of Long Beach. (Photo Courtesy Irvine Police Department)

Sound The gallery will resume in seconds

Terry Nguyen Huynh, 21, of Newport Beach. (Photo Courtesy Irvine Police Department)

Ferdinand Morales Franco, 32, of Long Beach. (Photo Courtesy Irvine Police Department)

Verasm Kevin Eam, of Long Beach. (Photo Courtesy Irvine Police Department)



About an hour later, an Irvine police sergeant spotted the car near Meadowood Park and initiated a traffic stop. There were four people inside.

Nan, the driver, was arrested, but three other people fled on foot, Mohr said. One of the suspects was found shortly afterward hiding in a trashcan.

Around 2:50 p.m., a woman who lives on Montrose, about a block west of Lynnfield, found the two remaining suspects fleeing from her garage. The suspects then broke into a residence on Brockton, a block east of Lynnfield, and were arrested, Mohr said.

Irvine police were assisted in the search by a California Highway Patrol airplane and an Anaheim police helicopter.

Later, police learned that there had been a break-in earlier in the day on Straw Flower. It’s a few blocks west of the earlier burglaries.

Also around 5:30 p.m., Wednesday officers arrested Huynh, who was a passenger in a Lyft vehicle who a neighborhood resident reported as acting suspiciously. She is suspected of having been in the North Pointe neighborhood to give the other suspects a ride, Mohr said.

Irvine police have recovered some cash and property believed to have been discarded by the suspects. Police are looking for additional stolen items that may have been left behind.

Anyone who finds discarded items is asked to contact Detective Jameson Roberts at 949-724-7170 or jroberts@cityofirvine.org.