Prosecutors say that the high-speed chase that ended with a violent and deadly crash in La Palma on Dec. 18 started when the suspect allegedly stole boxes of Legos from a grocery store.
In a press release from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office issued on Monday, details on the wild chase that ran from Fullerton to La Palma were released.
Anthony Michael Hanzal, a 43-year-old Anaheim man who is a second-striker, took multiple boxes of Legos from an Albertsons store in Fullerton and placed them in a bag. Instead of paying, he walked out of the store, which prompted the undercover Fullerton Police Department officer who witnessed the theft to follow him.
“The plain clothes officer followed the man’s car in an unmarked police car and called for a marked vehicle to make a traffic stop,” the release said. “When the uniformed police officer tried to pull the suspected thief over, he made a quick right turn onto Brookhurst and sped off.”