Police Arrest Suspect Who Fired Shots During Orange County Pursuit
SANTA ANA (CBSLA.com) — Police in Orange County arrested an armed suspect Sunday morning after a prolonged pursuit from Santa Ana to Fountain Valley and a four-hour standoff with police.
It all began at 9:30 p.m. Saturday when Santa Ana police tried to stop a four-door sedan to issue a traffic citation at First and Euclid streets, the Santa Ana Police Department said.
The pursuit remained primarily on surface streets, including an extended period where the suspect drove in circles at the city speed limit, ran several red lights and drove erratically, as shown on live television feeds.
For a brief time, the vehicle traveled along the Garden Grove (22) Freeway before returning to surface streets, the footage showed.
At one point, the suspect rolled down a window and fired several shots, but Blake said it was unclear whether the suspect was aiming at the pursuing officers.
The vehicle was finally stopped and surrounded at 11 p.m. after officers flattened the tires with a spike strip at Fifth and Euclid streets.
But the suspect remained in his vehicle and refused to drop his weapon or surrender, even after officers used a smoke bomb and water from a fire truck to try to force him out, a videographer at the scene said.
The man was described as being extremely agitated and repeatedly threatened to shoot if anyone came near his vehicle, the videographer said.
Smoke billowed from the vehicle as the man continued to pump the accelerator, Blake said.
Police continued to talk to the man, trying to persuade him to surrender, which he did peacefully, and without further incident, at 2:50 a.m.
No injuries were reported, but streets in the vicinity of Euclid Street were closed for hours during the standoff.
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