Assault suspect leads CHP on dangerous pursuit over multiple freeways
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (FOX 11 / CNS) - A driver allegedly involved in a road-rage incident with San Gabriel police led authorities on an erratic pursuit Wednesday on freeways and surface streets that reached 100 mph at times, and the suspect at one point appeared to intentionally side-swipe a California Highway Patrol SUV involved in the chase.
Police said it started around 11:35 a.m. when the suspect drove dangerously close to one of the department's civilian employees in a marked department car.
"The driver was trying, multiple times, to swerve hard at her vehicle and she was afraid for her safety," CHP officer Jeremy Tolen said.
She called dispatch, who then sent patrol units to the scene. When the suspect wouldn't stop, the chase was on.
After winding through the East Hollywood area, with the suspect occasionally using the SUV to push through stalled traffic and side-swiping vehicles in his path, the chase went onto the southbound Hollywood (101)
Freeway. About noon, the SUV -- a white Nissan Rogue with Colorado plates -- and the police vehicles had transitioned onto the southbound Harbor (110) Freeway through south Los Angeles.
The suspect eventually exited the freeway in the Wilmington area, winding through sometimes congested city streets and even passing through a construction zone. He then got back on the northbound 110 Freeway in the Carson area then moved east on the Artesia (91) Freeway. At one point he appeared to intentionally swerve across multiple freeway lanes and side-swiped a CHP vehicle in the far left lane before speeding ahead.
At about 12:40 p.m., the speeding suspect tried to exit the 91 Freeway at Norwalk Boulevard in the Cerritos area, but he clipped a slightly raised median and lost control of the SUV, which went into a spin and wound up rolling backward into some brush alongside the off-ramp.
When he refused to give up, the suspect exited the passenger door and tried to run before being taken down by a police K9.
He was arrested and taken to the hospital to have a bite checked. Police said he faces multiple assault with a deadly weapon charges and one for felony evading.
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