A driver who stole a number of automobiles, rammed police cruisers and different automobiles throughout an hour-long chase throughout Southern California was arrested Wednesday after a chase that led to smoke, flame and gunshots.
The wild chase throughout two counties started at about 5 p.m. with stories of a sedan dashing erratically in Anaheim in Orange County.
After some time, the suspect fled that automotive and stole a parked van, which was captured on video smashing a number of instances right into a Fullerton police cruiser that blocked it till it managed to hurry off.
The chase continued with the van sideswiping and rear-ending a number of automobiles because it sped and slid by means of road visitors earlier than heading onto a freeway.
The motive force later deserted the van and ran inside a house in Whittier in Los Angeles County, stole keys to a brand-new pickup truck parked within the driveway, and took off as individuals within the residence who had confronted him had been nearly struck, KNBC-TV reported.
Andres Benitez advised the station that he had simply returned from work.
“I used to be simply speaking to my mother and we had been having a standard dialog once I noticed the again door open and it’s not speculated to open,” he stated. The suspect got here into the kitchen.
Benitez stated he grabbed a kitchen knife as a way to defend his mom.
“I began redirecting him to the entrance door” however the man grabbed the automotive keys from the kitchen desk. Benitez stated he cornered the suspect, who had a pair of scissors, and threatened to stab him as his mom tried to carry him again.
The household and the person wound up exterior, the place he stole the truck and sped away.
The pickup ultimately misplaced a entrance tire, however the driver continued to weave erratically by means of visitors within the Hacienda Heights space at excessive pace, hitting a number of automobiles, crossing middle dividers and working pink lights.
The truck ended up at a Hacienda Heights gasoline station after a Los Angeles County sheriff’s patrol automotive rammed the truck from behind.
By this level, greater than a dozen patrol automobiles ringed the gasoline station however the truck nonetheless backed up and smashed right into a patrol automotive, inflicting authorities to fireside a number of photographs by means of the driving force’s window.
Deputies with weapons drawn surrounded the stopped truck at a protected distance as smoke erupted from it, after which flames that had been shortly doused with a hearth extinguisher.
Eventually, deputies utilizing a particular defend got here as much as the automotive, smashed the driving force’s window, opened the door and pulled out the driving force, who was walked to a patrol automotive.
It was unclear whether or not he was injured.