3 Carjacking, Kidnapping Suspects Arrested After Wild Chase From Calabasas To Woodland Hills
WOODLAND HILLS (CBSLA) – Two men and a woman were arrested Friday in connection with a carjacking and kidnapping which sparked a pursuit from Calabasas to Woodland Hills Friday evening. The female victim escaped unharmed.
The incident began at about 5:30 p.m. near Westward Way and Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu when a Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy pulled over a gray Chevrolet Equinox for a traffic violation.
As the deputy detained a passenger, he noticed drug paraphernalia inside the SUV and the driver fled, the sheriff's department said.
Near the scene of the initial stop, a citizen witnessed the suspects toss a black bag from the SUV. It was recovered by the Good Samaritan and turned over to deputies, who discovered it contained a handgun, the sheriff's department said.
The SUV was later spotted by deputies in a sheriff's helicopter in Calabasas. A deputy initiated a pursuit of the vehicle, which ended at 6:15 p.m. near Burbank Boulevard and Canoga Avenue in Woodland Hills, LASD reports.
A man and woman were seen bailing out of the SUV at the end of the chase. Both suspects were quickly apprehended. A third man, who had been detained during the initial traffic stop, was also arrested.
Deputies later located a woman who they believe had been carjacked and kidnapped. She had somehow escaped the vehicle prior to the pursuit. She was not hurt, the sheriff's department said.
Before the pursuit ended, it had a bit of everything -- the driver on the wrong side of the road, reckless driving, speeding, near misses with other vehicles and the car's rear wheels smoking when the driver ended up on her rims after deputies laid down spike strips. Video from the scene showed the Equinox driving with its rear left tire blown out.
(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)
