Parolee Faces Carjacking, Other Charges In Wild Police Pursuit
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A parolee with a long criminal history was charged Wednesday with carjacking and other counts after leading police on a wild, high-speed chase that ended in Montebello.
Aaron Lorta, 29, was charged with one count of carjacking, three counts of attempted carjacking and one count of fleeing a pursuing police officer's vehicle while driving recklessly.
Lorta was hospitalized with gunshot wounds after the wild pursuit that ended in Montebello Monday night. The chase, which began in Boyle Heights, involved at least five crashes before the suspect lost control of the car and got out of the car, then carjacked a woman at Garfield and Imperial Highway.
The chase continued onto the 710 and 60 freeways and back onto surface streets in Montebello, where the vehicle became wedged between two cars in heavy traffic.
Lorta allegedly fled on foot and tried to carjack two more vehicles before being shot and wounded by as many as three officers.
According to records, Lorta has been arrested 12 times since 2007 for a variety of offenses, including domestic battery, vandalism, resisting arrest and trespassing. In May 2013, Lorta was convicted for robbery and sentenced to 16 months in prison, but released after 11.
Lorta was paroled in June 2014, but violated parole within a month.
Lorta's arraignment will be scheduled for a later date, according to prosecutors, who plan to ask that his bail be set at $615,000.
If convicted as charged, Lorta faces up to 27 years and 10 months in state prison.