3 held, 1 at large in Tempe restaurant heists

Police said armed suspects who robbed two Tempe fast-food restaurants Tuesday attempted to flee in Mesa but were apprehended after getting a flat tire.

Three of the four suspected robbers were captured about 8 p.m. after heists at an El Pollo Loco on McClintock Drive and a Jack in the Box near McClintock Drive and Southern Avenue, according to Mesa police.

The names of the suspects were not released by police, but all are men in their 20s, police said.

The suspects were spotted by police shortly after the incidents and followed in Mesa, according to authorities.

Tempe police Sgt. Mike Kepler said the suspects' vehicle was followed by Mesa police near Dobson Road and U.S. 60. The driver of the vehicle attempted to flee, Kepler said. He said the car barreled through a hedge, over a curb and into the parking lot of a business before a tire became flat.

Kepler said the suspects ran from the vehicle and that three of the men were caught in the neighborhood surrounding the business in the area of Dobson and U.S. 60. A fourth suspect was still at large late Tuesday, he said. No description of that man was available.