Stolen Vehicle Suspect Leads Police On Chase Along Sidewalks, Through Cemetery
WHITTIER (CBSLA) -- A man in an allegedly stolen SUV led law enforcement officers on a chase on sidewalks, wrong-way streets and, at one point, a cemetery.
The chase started in Whittier around 4:30 p.m. and ended on a steep and dangerous mountainside road in Azusa about an hour later.
The suspect's vehicle -- reportedly stolen from the Pico Rivera area -- got stuck on the side of a mountain dirt road which caused the man to eventually give up.
The chase began near the Rose Hills cemetery just off Workman Mills Road and the suspect drove in and proceeded to go slowly through the wending hills of the graveyard.
From there, the chase went through Whittier, La Puente, West Covina and parts of Azusa before the suspect drove into the mountains on San Gabriel Canyon Road.
The chase started rather routinely and, for the most part, the suspect obeyed traffic rules.
When West Covina police took over the chase from sheriff's deputies, the suspect then became erratic -- he drove on sidewalks, nearly side-swiped several cars and wiggled his way out of at least three attempted PIT maneuvers.
As he upped his desire to avoid capture, the suspect began throwing caution completely to the wind. At times, he went down the wrong side of the road, ran over the median and ran a couple of red lights.
He got stuck trying to maneuver past a guardrail on a mountain road and got stuck.
He surrendered to officers -- who had guns drawn -- and a K-9 officer ready to take him down.