Police Encounter Party in Search for Car Thief

Police swarmed an area near Echo Park Avenue and Fargo Street Friday night to pursue a fleeing suspected car thief and found a swarm of partiers instead, according to The Eastsider LA.

The presence of the two officers first on scene bloomed into a legion of squad cars and a police helicopter when the officers came upon a street party that looked to have roughly 100 people, said Northeast Division's Sgt. Christopher Gomez to the Eastsider.

The suspect ran from a Lojack-reported stolen Mercedes SUV, and was not found. But police took a passenger from the vehicle into custody, recovering a .38-caliber handgun in the process.

A call to Northeast Division this morning from Patch revealed no further details.