A late-night pursuit that hopped across multiple Los Angeles freeways ended in Los Alamitos early Saturday, when California Highway Patrol officers arrested a driver who bailed out of a brown Mercedes and tried to make a run for it, authorities said. The chase started after officers from the LAPD’s Newton Division tried to pull the car over for failing to yield at a stop sign in downtown Los Angeles. The suspect ditched the vehicle and fled on foot before being taken into custody in Los Alamitos; officers at the scene told reporters the person was believed to be armed.
According to MyNewsLA, an LAPD spokesperson told City News Service the pursuit began around 11:40 p.m. Friday and rolled from the Harbor (110) Freeway onto the eastbound Santa Monica (10) Freeway. California Highway Patrol units joined in as the Mercedes moved onto the Pomona (60) Freeway, then continued the chase onto the San Gabriel River (605) Freeway. There, the driver abandoned the car and ran, and CHP officers ultimately tracked the suspect down and made the arrest in Los Alamitos, the wire report said.
How agencies coordinate
When a pursuit jumps city lines and hits state highways, local departments typically hand operational control to the California Highway Patrol, while still sharing radio traffic, logs and evidence. The LAPD’s Pursuit Review Unit keeps a central database of all vehicle pursuit reports and conducts after-action reviews and training to keep officers in line with department policy, according to the LAPD. State law also urges agencies to adopt written pursuit policies that balance the need to catch a suspect with the risk to the public and officers, according to California law.
The risks of freeway chases
High-speed chases on Southern California freeways have repeatedly ended with people hurt or killed, a pattern that keeps the debate over when to call it off very much alive. In January, a pursuit in Placentia ended in a crash that killed an innocent driver and led to felony charges for the suspect, NBC Los Angeles reported. Cases like that continue to fuel arguments among police leaders and policymakers over how far officers should go to stop a fleeing car.
Authorities had not released the suspect’s name, potential charges or booking details as of Saturday morning, MyNewsLA reported. LAPD and CHP officials also did not immediately offer more than a brief statement to the wire service. In pursuit cases, investigators typically review radio transmissions, dash-cam recordings and any other available video before finalizing charges and next steps…