A 31-year-old Los Angeles man was arrested in Lengthy Seaside this week on suspicion of stealing a Fireplace Division ambulance, after crashing it right into a phone pole, whereas firefighters have been extinguishing a blaze that killed two folks and injured one in an deserted industrial constructing, authorities mentioned.
Jose Armando Lara ran from the ambulance following the crash however was later discovered close by by officers and arrested, Lengthy Seaside police spokesman Richard Mejia mentioned.
The ambulance was stolen from the 1700 block of Lengthy Seaside Boulevard, Mejia mentioned. That's the place firefighters had arrived, simply earlier than 9 p.m. Thursday, Might 4, to battle the blaze.
At about 9:25 p.m. that evening, patrol officers have been notified that a stolen car that belonged to the Lengthy Seaside Fireplace Division had been in a number of hit-and-run collisions. No accidents have been reported in these collisions.
Officers discovered the ambulance within the space of Tribune Court docket and sixteenth Road, the place it struck a phone pole lower than a half-mile from the hearth, however the suspect was gone, the spokesman mentioned. They have been capable of observe him down close by.
Lara was booked into jail on suspicion of felony hit-and-run, driving beneath the affect, taking a car with out the proprietor’s consent and hit-and-run leading to property injury, Mejia mentioned. He was being held in jail on $50,000 bail as of Saturday.