IRVINE (CNS) - A pregnant woman is hospitalized this morning after her car was sideswiped by a man police said stole an Orange County Transit Authority shuttle bus in Irvine and led officers on an approximately 30-minute chase that ended with a crash into a freeway guardrail in Costa Mesa.
The man driving the bus hit Valerie Barrow's Prius on the Costa Mesa (55) Freeway, ABC 7 reported. Barrow is 18-weeks pregnant and is recovering at a hospital, according to ABC7.
Her husband, Josh Barrow, told the station the fetus is OK.
The bus, which was empty, was taken about 6:20 p.m. Thursday in the area of Barranca Parkway and Harvard Avenue, according to Irvine police.
A motorcycle officer spotted the bus on the Santa Ana (5) Freeway and tried to pull it over, but the suspect didn't yield and allegedly tried and failed to run down the officer, according to Irvine Police Department Public Information Officer Kim Mohr.
The officer was not injured, Mohr said.
The California Highway Patrol took over the chase, which made its way onto the southbound Costa Mesa (55) Freeway and the suspect crashed the bus into a guardrail while exiting at Fairview Road at 6:51 p.m. Thursday, authorities said.
The suspect got out and attempted to flee, but was quickly taken into custody by CHP officers, Mohr said.
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