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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A motorist wanted for a relatively minor traffic violation led California Highway Patrol officers on a chase from the Hollywood area to the far reaches of Los Angeles County, where he bailed from his disabled car, ran onto the freeway and tried to carjack other vehicles before surrendering.
The chase began shortly after 3 p.m. on the Hollywood (101) Freeway, where the driver allegedly made an unsafe lane change but refused to pull over for a CHP officer.
The man appeared to be in an agitated state as he fled northbound on the 101 and then the 170 freeway in a gray Volkswagen sedan with a handicap placard handing from the rear-view mirror. The motorist occasionally held a cell phone outside the window of the car as he sped north, repeatedly hitting speeds topping 100 mph.
CHP officers made several unsuccessful attempts to slow the driver with spike strips, but a later attempt was successful, and the two passenger- side tires on the vehicle slowly went flat. With the car disabled, the driver exited the 5 Freeway at Smokey Bear Road near Pyramid Lake, where a pursuing CHP officer used a PIT maneuver to bring the car to a halt.
The driver, however, scrambled out of the vehicle and ran back onto the 5 Freeway, scampering across all lanes of the freeway. He then walked back across the southbound lanes and then along the median on the northbound side, trying unsuccessfully to open the doors of at least three slowly moving vehicles.
With his carjacking attempts unsuccessful, he crawled off the freeway and down an embankment back onto Smokey Bear Road, where he was cornered by CHP officers -- one of whom was wielding a Taser and another holding a barking police K-9.
The suspect raised his hands and fell to his knees, but still struggled with CHP officers as they took
him into custody.
No injuries were reported, but driver did appear to clip at least one other vehicle during the pursuit.