When Lolita Harper and I went to...

When Lolita Harper and I went to check out the murder scene at

Placentia Avenue and Wilson Street, I figured it was going to be a

typical crime scene -- police, body covered, suspect already in

custody -- but, when we actually arrived on scene, I was surprised to

see that the victim was already gone, the suspect had gotten away on

foot, and a bloodhound was en route to the scene.

The bloodhound from Long Beach Police Department arrived shortly

after we did and it didn’t take long for the dog to pick up the scent

and take off. The shot I took along Placentia was taken right after

the dog picked up on the suspect’s scent. To stay out of the way of

the police, I ran across the street and took the shot while running

along side them, made it a hard, hard shot to get, as I was running,

shooting, and watching out for what was in front of me at the same

time.

At the start of the chase, I figured the suspect would be arrested

within a few blocks, but to my surprise, the hunt went on for almost

eight miles and I was right behind the officers for about half of the

trek.

The murder story turned out to be the first in a series of three

breaking news events I was able to cover in the Newport-Mesa area

this past week.

-- Mark C. Dustin, staff photographer