Crime & Safety
Vigilante And LA Traffic Bring Chase To An End
A grand theft auto suspect led police on a chase across several Southland freeways until a truck driver and Mid-City traffic stymied him.
LOS ANGELES, CA — A suspect wanted for grand theft auto who led police on a vehicle pursuit on several Southland freeways and side streets was caught Thursday when a pickup truck blocked him in on Crenshaw Boulevard in the Mid-City area of Los Angeles.
According to broadcast reports, the chase began shortly around 3 p.m as Los Angeles police followed the man suspected of grand theft auto onto a freeway, possibly the Glenn Anderson (105) Freeway.
News stations began providing footage soon afterward, as the black sedan -- with a tricolor flag of red, yellow and green waving from out of the sunroof -- led about five police units north on the Harbor (110) Freeway out of the Harbor Gateway area. Along the way, local news helicopter video showed the driver throwing items out of the sunroof of the car.
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After driving past USC, the man headed west on the Santa Monica (10) Freeway just west of downtown L.A.
While on the freeways, the driver never topped about 65 miles per hour and did not meet with much traffic while westbound. But after he reached Santa Monica, where the 10 would eventually turn northbound through the McClure Tunnel onto Pacific Coast Highway, the man made an abrupt U turn and headed back the way he came -- into heavier, eastbound traffic.
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He drove slowly in the opposite direction he had just come and exited when he reached Crenshaw Boulevard, where he got off and made an illegal right turn. Encountering traffic, he then made an illegal U turn and sped off northbound reaching speeds of about 80 miles per hour.
At Charles Place in the Mid-City area, the driver encountered standstill traffic and tried to weave his way through. It was there that a pickup truck inched forward and blocked him in. With nowhere to go, the suspect surrendered and was ordered out through the driver's side window.
Police ordered him to lie face down on the ground as they took him into custody without further incident.
The pickup truck driver's identity and motive for involvement were unclear.
City News Service
