CAR CHASE RESULTS IN MAN'S ARREST.

Byline: Charles F. Bostwick and John Sanders Staff Writers

An 18-mile chase through the streets of the Antelope Valley on Friday led to the arrest of a man who might have been involved in the shooting of an armored car guard in Long Beach this week, officials said.

The man, whose name was not immediately released, was captured in the Antelope Valley Mall parking lot after abandoning his pickup truck, running into a Dillard's department store under construction and then into the mall, deputies said.

``The suspect was caught exiting the west side of the mall by Sears and taken into custody,'' sheriff's Deputy Lauren Brown said.

A Long Beach Police Department spokeswoman would not confirm whether the man was a suspect in Tuesday's robbery outside a Farmers & Merchants Bank, which left SecTran guard Dwight Medrano, 24, of Whittier in critical condition.

``Our detectives are following up on leads, and releasing any further information could jeopardize the case,'' said Nancy Tabing, the department's public information officer. Deputies said they expected Long Beach detectives to drive up to the Lancaster sheriff's station to interview him.

When the man abandoned his truck in the mall lot, he left in it a boy about 2 or 3 years old, deputies said. The child was taken into protective custody. His relationship to the man was not immediately known.