NORTH HOLLYWOOD (CNS) - Police chased a car containing a possible murder suspect through the streets of North Hollywood at high speeds Monday night, a pursuit that ended when the driver fled from the vehicle, appeared to carjack an SUV and then quickly collided head-on into a police cruiser.
The chase began and ended in North Hollywood, with a foray into Burbank, when police said gang officers recognized the suspect as a known gang member while in traffic.
“Very distinctive facial tattoos,” Capt. Craig Valenzuela of the Los Angeles Police Department told reporters at the scene. “Gang Enforcement Detail officers here from North Hollywood recognized those tattoos very quickly as the suspect drove by and they went following from there.”
The speeding car, with three people inside, raced on surface streets and the Golden State (5) Freeway, narrowly missing other vehicles and pedestrians and at one point plowing into some trash cans.
Two people bailed out of the car in the course of the chase. One was taken into custody and one suspect was still outstanding.
The driver eventually abandoned the car and fled from police on foot. He ran through a park for several minutes, at one point running across a pedestrian bridge spanning the 170 Freeway, before he appeared to carjack the SUV, with its driver running to safety. The suspect didn't get far, as a police SUV quickly moved in and the two SUVs collided head-on in the area of Sherman Way and Whitsett Avenue.
The suspect was then taken into custody. NBC4 reported that one of the suspects was a murder suspect.
“Obviously, very dangerous situation,” Valenzuela said. “It appears as though no one was seriously injured. So, for that, I think we're very lucky and very thankful.”
No weapon was recovered by police, Fox11 reported.
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