3 Officers Injured During High-Speed Chase In LA

LOS ANGELES, CA — A man wanted for assaulting a police officer led authorities on a chase along surface streets in southern Los Angeles before a PIT maneuver was employed to stop him, police said Sunday.

Three officers were injured during the pursuit but it was unclear if the officers were taken to a hospital, according to Officer Norma Eisenman of the Los Angeles Police Department's Media Relations Section. However, spokesperson Lyndsey Lantz of the Los Angeles Fire Department said paramedics treated and transported three patients to a hospital at the end of the pursuit. Their conditions were not immediately known.

The pursuit began at about 9:10 p.m. Saturday, according to an LAPD spokeswoman who was not certain exactly where or how it started. Officers closed in on a white pickup truck at 58th Place and Central Avenue and the suspect was shown backing the truck into patrol vehicles, which is considered an assault on a police officer, the spokeswoman said.

Police attempted a PIT (Precision Immobilization Technique) maneuver on Central Avenue but the truck did not spin around and the driver briefly hit speeds into the 70 mph range to get away. Finally, a PIT maneuver at Alameda and 16th streets spun the truck around so that it could be surrounded by patrol vehicles, and a man in a tank top and baggy shorts was taken into custody.

No further information was immediately available.

City News Service