LA County Sheriff: Chase, Diamond Bar Standoff With 9-Year-Old Girl In Backseat Started With Road Rage Incident
DIAMOND BAR (CBSLA) — Authorities say that a car chase with a 9-year-old girl in the backseat that ended in a standoff in Diamond Bar stemmed from a road rage incident with another motorist.
Margaret Hassan, 30, of Pomona, was identified as the suspect in Tuesday night's wild and dangerous chase that started at about 3:20 p.m. and wound its way through Chino Hills, Chino, and Ontario before the vehicle stopped working in the center lane of Diamond Bar Boulevard at Gentle Springs Lane in Diamond Bar.
According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, deputies had been flagged down by a motorist who reported they had been repeatedly and intentionally rear-ended by the suspect. When deputies tried to stop the suspect, Hassan allegedly fled from them in her vehicle, touching off the chase.
During the chase, the suspect was seen hitting several cars as her vehicle squeezed between cars on surface streets. At one point, the suspect vehicle continued to speed away with the rear bumper hanging off the car.
When the suspect rear-ended another car in Diamond Bar, the vehicle became inoperable – but she still refused to exit the vehicle. The standoff ended at about 7 p.m., but not before delivering another shock.
"After introducing a gas agent, and to the surprise of all personnel, an unknown female child exited the rear of the vehicle and was brought to safety in the arms of [a Special Enforcement Bureau] deputy," sheriff's officials said in a statement. The girl was identified as Hassan's 9-year-old daughter, and after being taken to the hospital to get checked out for any injuries, she was taken into the custody of Children and Family Services.
Hassan was taken into custody, examined at hospital, and was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, child endangerment, and felony evading. She is being held on $130,000 bail.
She was charged with one felony count each of child abuse under circumstances or conditions likely to cause great bodily injury or death, assault with a deadly weapon and fleeing a pursuing peace officer's motor vehicle while driving recklessly, along with seven misdemeanor counts of hit-and-run driving resulting in property damage, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
One sheriff's sergeant was involved in a separate traffic crash while responding to the pursuit as it drove through Walnut. She was treated at a hospital for non-life threatening injuries and has since been released.
Hassan is set to be arraigned Friday in a Pomona courtroom