RIVERSIDE (CNS) - An armed burglary suspect led officers on a high- speed chase from Garden Grove through Riverside County and into San Bernardino County before he shot and killed himself after pulling onto the side of Interstate 15 in the Cajon Pass today.
The chase began about 4:50 p.m. in the 12800 block of Joy Street after Garden Grove police officers were called to a business by a man who said a family member was coming to his business to return several stolen firearms taken from him in 2017 during a burglary in Fullerton, according to Lt. Carl Whitney of the Garden Grove Police Department.
The family member was listed as a suspect in the burglary but no arrest had been made, Whitney said.
When officers arrived at the business, the man told them the family member was knocking on the back door of the business, trying to get the man to come outside, he said.
As officers approached, the suspect jumped into a white U-Haul pickup truck and fled the scene, briefly stopping for officers at the intersection of Brookhurst Street and Lampson Avenue, before he fled eastbound on Lampson Avenue, said Whitney.
Officers pursued the suspect out of Garden Grove and along the Riverside (91) Freeway in Anaheim, turning the pursuit over to the California Highway Patrol when the chase reached the Orange County border, he said.
The pursuit continued through San Bernardino County and onto northbound Interstate 15 towards the Cajon Pass, where CHP officers were able to deploy spike strips about three miles south of Highway 138, which disabled the truck's tires and forced the driver to stop along the shoulder of the freeway around 6 p.m., said Whitney.
The suspect shot himself as CHP officers surrounded the truck. He was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Whitney said.
A firearm and a gun safe was recovered from inside the truck, he said.
The CHP will handle the shooting investigation.
The name of the 42-year-old suspect was not released.
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