University Police detained a suspect outside of South Campus Commons 5 Monday afternoon.

With dozens of students looking on, University Police officers, one with his gun drawn, chased three men through parking lots near Van Munching Hall around 4:30 p.m. yesterday, ending with two of the men ordered to the ground at gunpoint by the same officer.

The men lay facedown on the sidewalk as officers searched them, while curious passersby gathered in groups to gawk. A third man, who had run in the opposite direction, was nabbed on Mowatt Lane near the parking garage entrance.

According to University Police spokeswoman Maj. Cathy Atwell, the police pursuit began when a University Police officer on routine patrol pulled up behind a vehicle on Adelphi Road and Campus Drive. After the officer had a dispatcher run a check on the tags, it was determined the plates were stolen, Atwell said.

The officer attempted to pull over the car as he followed it down Campus Drive, but when the car reached the lot near Mowatt Lane Garage, the vehicle came to a halt and the passengers and driver fled in different directions.

About six police cars responded to the scene as the foot chase began, according to witnesses, and the men were arrested soon after.

In an interview last night, senior kinesiology Shari Gorga said she witnessed the scene about 20 feet from where police made the arrests.

“I was walking home with my friend and we saw this guy running, and I was jokingly saying he looks like he’s running from the cops,” Gorga said. “Then the cop said something like, ‘Stop where you are or I’ll shoot.’ That’s when I freezed and grabbed my friend and ran behind the car.

“The two guys dropped to the ground and [the officer] handcuffed them. The other guy who was fleeing in a different direction, it looked like he ran into the parking garage … three or four more cop cars came down. I guess they got into the parking garage. He was arrested on the other side of the garage.”

Originally from an area of New Jersey that has relatively low crime, Gorga said she was shaken by the incident.

“I was still thinking about it later on; it was not a huge thing but I’ve never been witness to anything like that,” Gorga said.

After the arrest, police determined the license plates had been reported stolen to Montgomery County police two days ago, but the vehicle had been reported stolen on Feb. 8, Atwell said.

Dwight Fisher Jr., 21; Larnell Barber, 20; and Ramon Randall, 18; all of Silver Spring, were arrested. Police charged each with theft over $500 for the stolen car, theft over $500 for the license plates, unauthorized use of a vehicle and fleeing and eluding police. Several of the charges are felonies and will result in at least a year in prison for each charge if the men are convicted.

The car was visibly damaged as police arrested one of the suspects near where the vehicle stopped, with scrapes on the right side, several dents and a broken side mirror.

Officers were emptying the pockets of the men into evidence bags as they lay facedown and handcuffed, a practice Atwell said was procedure. She said she was not made aware of the contents of the bookbag because the events were late-breaking and she did not have access to charging documents.

As for the drawn weapon, Atwell said such a use of force is not uncommon during a chase of suspects who may have committed felonies. But Gorga said she wondered if the use of the gun was necessary.

“I was surprised he pulled his gun on him in such an open environment,” Gorga said. “I feel like it was maybe a bit aggressive. If my friend and I didn’t stop, in 10 more seconds we would have been in his path of fire.”

But for sophomore letters and sciences major Albert Pinkrah, who watched the chase from Wicomico Hall, the events were a welcome diversion.

“Today was a dull day. It picked up,” Pinkrah said.

Staff writer Kaitlyn Seith contributed to this report. Contact reporter Kevin Litten at littendbk@gmail.com.