What started as a routine shoplifting call in Lafayette yesterday spiraled into a wrong-way getaway, a crash at a busy intersection, and a full-blown search involving multiple agencies and helicopters. By the end of the day, one suspect was in custody, another was still missing, and two people from a struck vehicle had been taken to a local hospital as a precaution.
Police account and response
According to a Lafayette Police Department post, officers were dispatched around 2:13 PM for a report that two shoplifters had taken items from a business on the 3500 block of Mt. Diablo Boulevard. The suspects took off in a silver Honda, and an officer tried to pull the car over on Pleasant Hill Road.
That stop did not last long. Police say the driver headed north in the southbound lanes of Pleasant Hill Road, prompting the officer to call off the pursuit for safety reasons. Orinda police and Contra Costa County sheriff’s deputies then set up a perimeter while K-9 units and other officers began searching the area.
Crash and search details
Shortly after the pursuit was terminated, the Honda collided with another vehicle near Pleasant Hill Road, and emergency crews rushed to the scene, according to KTVU. Aerial footage and live coverage showed sheriff’s vehicles and medical personnel clustered around the crash site…