Felony Charges Filed Against Burglary Suspects Who Led Police On Chase From Cerritos To South LA
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Felony charges were filed Monday against two burglary suspects involved in a bizarre, slow-speed televised chase on freeway and surface streets.
Herschel Reynolds, a 20-year-old former Marine Corps driver, and his 19-year-old passenger, Isaiah Young, are facing one count each of first-degree residential burglary and fleeing a pursuing peace officer's vehicle while driving recklessly, both felonies. They are additionally charged with two misdemeanor counts of hit-and-run driving resulting in property damage.
A burglary was reported about 1:25 p.m. Thursday in the 12300 block of Charlwood Street in Cerritos, but the suspects fled the location before sheriff's deputies arrived.
A neighbor gave deputies a description of two young men in a dark blue Ford Mustang, which was spotted by a sheriff's aero unit heading from the westbound Artesia (91) Freeway to the northbound Long Beach (710) Freeway, according to the sheriff's department.
During the chase that followed, the men put the Mustang's convertible top down, even though a steady rain was falling. The driver did "donuts" on Hollywood Boulevard, drove the wrong way on rain-slick streets and taunted pursuers.
The Mustang was cut off by a TMZ tour bus in Hollywood and the passenger threw something at the bus as the driver steered the Ford around it.
Even when the front right tire of the Mustang was shredded, possibly from a spike strip, the driver kept going. During the pursuit, the Mustang appeared to clip another vehicle and still kept on.
The driver ultimately exited the Harbor (110) Freeway at Adams Boulevard and drove to the area of Central Avenue and 51st Street, where the driver stopped and got out of the Mustang and the passenger stood up inside the car, calmly awaiting the arrival of authorities.
Some of the onlookers talked to and high-fived the suspects, even taking selfies with the two men before deputies arrived and took them into custody without incident.
During the chase, some onlookers cheered Reynolds and Young on as they passed by and the two alleged burglars appeared to respond with fist pumps.
Pentagon officials said Reynolds served with the 1st Marine Logistics Group at Camp Pendleton as a motor vehicle operator but he was discharged in January, with authorities saying "the character of his service was incongruent with the Marine Corps' expectations and standards."
Reynolds posted bail today and is due to be arraigned in a Bellflower courthouse on May 10, according to Sheriff's Department records. Young remains jailed on $50,000 bail. He was scheduled to be arraigned today, but that date is likely to be postponed.
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