Traffic Stop Shuts Down Pasadena Neighborhood as Armed Parolee Flees Police on Saturday

A traffic stop Saturday afternoon by Pasadena police led to a Northwest Pasadena neighborhood shut down when police and Altadena Sheriff’s deputies flooded the area and captured three armed felons, authorities said.

Initially two suspects in a vehicle driving in the 1000 block of N. Raymond Avenue were pulled over when officers conducted a traffic stop shortly before 2 p.m., Pasadena Police Public Information Officer Lt. Vasken Gourdikian said.

“During the traffic stop, one of the suspects fled from the vehicle on foot and ran down to an apartment complex where he handed a handgun to a third person,” Gourdikian said. “The driver of the vehicle was detained, there was a firearm recovered from the vehicle. The suspect who ran was chased and found in possession of a firearm, so he was arrested also.”

Authorities shut down North Fair Oaks Avenue above and below Montana Street as a crowd started gathering behind the yellow tape while the incident was unfolding. A police helicopter buzzed overhead to track the fleeing suspect and the suspect to whom he had reportedly passed the illegal firearm.

Police said no shots were fired during the incident but some local business owners said they were scared.
“One nearby business owner told me he didn’t hear gunshots but did hear officers yelling, ‘Get down,’” one witness near the area reported.

Officers recovered two handguns during the incident – one from inside the vehicle and another from the third person who received it from the suspect who ran, Gourdikian said.

Gourdikian identified the driver of the vehicle as Doncell Hannah, 23. His passenger was identified as Michael Bernard Robertson, 31. Robertson allegedly fled from the traffic stop and handed a firearm to the third suspect, identified as Richard Eugene Isham, 31. All three are Pasadena residents.
Robertson was slightly injured when he scuffled with police as he was taken into custody; he was transported to the Huntington Hospital Emergency Room for treatment, accompanied by two police officers.

Police said all three suspects were arrested for being felons in possession of firearms. Robertson was being held at the Los Angeles Inmate Reception Center in lieu of $125,000 bail. Gourdikian said he is “likely to be charged with resisting arrest” after he fled and led police on a foot pursuit.

Hannah was booked and released Saturday after posting $125,000 bail.

Isham, who Gourdikian said was on parole, was transported to the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles. No bail amount information for Isham is currently available.