Man Suspected Of Stealing Police Car, Freeway Shootout Arrested

RIVERSIDE, CA — A man suspected of engaging in a freeway shootout with a Corona police officer before stealing the officer's vehicle and fleeing to a Riverside apartment complex where he barricaded himself was in custody Sunday.

The Corona Police Department said one of its officers was driving an unmarked SUV at about 2 p.m. Saturday on the 91 Freeway approaching the Van Buren exit when it was hit from behind.

The collision caused the officer to lose control and spin out multiple times, police said.

After the officer pulled over to the shoulder, the other driver ran toward the officer with a handgun, police said.

According to Riverside City Police Department spokesman Officer Ryan Railsback, there was an "exchange of gunfire" between the officer and the suspect before the suspect sped off in the officer's vehicle and drove to an apartment complex in the La Sierra neighborhood in Riverside, near La Sierra and Minnier avenues, where he barricaded himself.

The man was arrested a short time later when he attempted to flee the apartment complex, Railsback said.

A photo from the location of the shooting shows an abandoned white pickup in the middle of the freeway, while a photo of the police vehicle at the apartment complex shows it having blown-out windows and rear-end damage.

Authorities have not released the suspect's identity.

—City News Service