VERNON (CNS) - Los Angeles County sheriff's homicide detectives today released the name of the man suspected of shooting at police during a wild pursuit from Maywood to Vernon and confirmed the name of the woman driving the car in a wild pursuit that started in Maywood and ended in Vernon with a shootout with police.
Dylan Andres Lindsey, 24, of Torrance remained hospitalized in critical condition today, Deputy Morgan Arteaga of the Sheriff's Information Bureau said. Lindsey suffered “at least two gunshot wounds, one of which is believed to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head,” Arteaga said.
He is suspected of firing “numerous rounds from a large caliber revolver at pursuing officers and deputies,” she said.
Investigators confirmed the driver of the Toyota Prius is 37-year-old Alison Hart of Redondo Beach.
Hart was booked at the East Los Angeles Sheriff's Station for charges including suspicion of attempted murder of a peace officer and felony evading, Arteaga said. Hart was being held on $2.1 million bail at the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, according to sheriff's inmate information.
Downey police and sheriff's homicide investigators have yet to confirm if Lindsey is a suspect in the killing of a liquor store co-owner Tuesday night in a possible robbery attempt.
On Friday afternoon, “Downey detectives observed a man believed to be the homicide suspect enter a vehicle outside a residence in Maywood,” Downey Police Lt. Kathleen Mendoza said. “When assisting officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop, a vehicle pursuit ensued. During the pursuit, the suspect fired at pursuing officers and an officer-involved shooting occurred.”
The chase originated with Downey police pursuing a dark-colored Toyota Prius with two people inside, the suspect and a female driver.
During the chase that went north on the Long Beach (710) Freeway then onto streets in Commerce and Vernon, the male suspect leaned out of the car's passenger window and fired at pursuing officers and even appeared to shoot at a sheriff's department helicopter.
“He was hanging out the side of a car speeding down the freeway and the surface streets, firing a large-caliber revolver,” Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Lt. Derrick Alfred told reporters at the scene.
The vehicle stopped in traffic at 2:45 p.m. Friday near Bandini Boulevard and Downey Road, where the male passenger in the Prius again began firing at officers, who returned fire, shattering windows on the car.
Bullets struck two Downey police vehicles and a civilian down range of the shootout suffered a “superficial graze wound,” Alfred said. No law enforcement officers were injured in the shooting.
The female driver of the Prius now identified as Hart got out and surrendered a short time later. She appeared to have blood on her.
“The driver of the vehicle was... struck by gunfire,” Alfred said.
The woman was taken to a hospital where she was treated for a non-life threatening gunshot wound. Upon her release from a hospital, she was taken into custody and booked, LASD Deputy Erin Liu said.
The passenger remained in the car, with officers and more than a dozen cruisers positioned behind. At 3:20 p.m. Friday, sheriff's armored vehicles, called Bearcats, arrived at the scene. Two of the vehicles boxed in the Prius.
Images from the scene appeared to show the suspect lying motionless in the passenger seat. A bomb squad robot was later sent in to get a closer look and deploy tear gas or a flash-bang device, but the suspect remained inside.
A police dog was sent into the Prius' open driver-side door at 4:30 p.m. Friday, with minimal reaction from the suspect.
The K-9 was pulled out and sheriff's Special Enforcement Bureau deputies approached the vehicle and dragged the suspect, who was not moving, from the car.
He was then placed into an ambulance and taken from the scene.
The suspect's weapon was recovered at the scene, Liu said.
“This is one that you're not going to let go,” Alfred said. “He has to be stopped... we believe that he has already murdered one person and we don't know what this person is capable of.”
That shooting at ASL Liquor and Market in the 8500 block of Paramount Boulevard, killed 44-year-old Gurpreet Singh, of Cerritos.
Police on Thursday released surveillance video and photos of the shooting suspect, who wielded a long-barreled handgun that appeared strikingly similar to the one used by the passenger in Friday's pursuit, authorities said.