ROBBERY SUSPECT LEADS CHASE; MAN IN FRACAS WITH GUARD IN VALENCIA FLEES TO HOLLYWOOD.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand and Patricia Farrell Aidem Daily News Staff Writers

A private security guard thwarted a jewelry heist Wednesday in Valencia, touching off a brawl with the suspect, a high-speed chase and a SWAT deployment when the man barricaded himself inside a Hollywood apartment, police said.

Suspect Herminio Irquierdo, 47, was arrested after a two-hour standoff and was booked on suspicion of burglary, felony evading and assaulting the guard with pepper spray, said Lt. Steve Dolan of the Santa Clarita Valley sheriff's station. Bail was set at $1 million.

Residents of the Old Orchard condominiums on Lyons Avenue said a man knocked on several doors before hitting the home of a jewelry store owner, said Sgt. Howard Slack of the Santa Clarita Valley sheriff's station.

Several items of jewelry were taken from the home, but when the man fled, he was confronted in a hallway by security guard Chuck Oliveri, police said.

``I came around the corner, I saw a guy, I asked him for I.D. and all of a sudden this woman said, `He tried to rob me,' '' Oliveri said.

Oliveri said he tackled the man, who fell down a flight of stairs dropping gold jewelry as he tumbled. The man fought back, spraying Oliveri several times in the face with pepper spray and cutting the guard's hand.

``He takes off outside, I open the door and sure enough there's a deputy there,'' Oliveri said. ``We flagged him down and then, I guess, there was a chase.''

Irquierdo's girlfriend was waiting outside in a red Toyota, police said.

Sheriff's deputies and Highway Patrol officers gave chase, reaching speeds up to 95 mph. At some point, the woman was shoved out of the car. She was held for questioning.

The drama ended peaceably early Wednesday afternoon, with police on the phone managing to talk the 47-year-old out of the De Mille apartment building at 2617 Argyle Ave. in Hollywood.

``LAPD SWAT were in communication with him by phone and at some point he just decided to give up and come out on his own,'' Dolan said.