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LAKEWOOD (CNS) - A suspect in an allegedly stolen car led authorities on a bizarre and dangerous chase today from downtown Los Angeles to Orange County to Lakewood, where the motorist came to a stop, refused to exit the car then tried to flee on flattened tires as police repeatedly rammed the vehicle, eventually taking him into custody.
The chase began about 12:45 p.m., when Los Angeles Police Department officers tried to stop the car, which had been reported stolen in Downey, near Hill and 25th streets, according to the LAPD. Broadcast reports indicated it was an armed carjacking.
The man refused to yield, heading onto the southbound Santa Ana (5) Freeway and leading officers on an erratic chase that at times went onto the wrong side of the roadway both on the freeway and surface streets.
After about a half-hour, the suspect was in the Buena Park area driving the wrong way on the freeway shoulder, coming to a stop at Artesia Boulevard, where a brief standoff with officers ensued and traffic was halted on both sides of the freeway.
The driver of the four-door sedan began moving again and went onto surface streets, where an officer used a patrol car to spin out the suspect vehicle temporarily, but the suspect drove off again, heading onto Beach Boulevard with officers following it.
The driver made his way back onto the 5 Freeway toward Los Angeles County, where he exited in Cerritos and stopped his vehicle in the area of Del Amo Boulevard and Winkler Avenue, when a pickup blocked his path on the two-lane roadway. The pickup driver got out and ran into a grassy area, leaving his vehicle as an obstacle.
The driver again engaged in a brief standoff with police but managed to steer around the parked pickup, continuing the chase into Lakewood. The stolen vehicle's driver's side tires were flat, however -- possibly from a spike strip that had been hastily deployed earlier in the pursuit -- and the suspect eventually stopped near Bloomfield Avenue and Del Amo Boulevard.
The man rolled down his windows and exchanged words with officers, but refused to exit the car. Authorities fired non-lethal rounds into the car, shattering a rear window, but he still refused to surrender.
The man stepped out of the car about 3:15 p.m. and was hit by at least two bean bag rounds. A police dog was deployed, and the suspect could be seen swinging at the animal, possibly with a knife. The encounter with the dog visibly enraged the suspect, and he got back into the car and made a slow, desperate attempt to drive off.
Pursuing officers repeatedly rammed the slow-moving vehicle in a scene reminiscent of a bumper-car attraction, eventually pinning the suspect along a curb at Bloomfield Avenue and Lemming Street.
Completely boxed in, the suspect surrendered to police about 3:25 p.m. and was taken into custody without further incident.
During the standoff, a second carjacking pursuit occurred in Orange County. That suspect stole a utility truck, which he abandoned and attempted to flee on foot. He ran through a neighborhood before being taken into custody by authorities minutes later.