Possibly Suicidal Woman Leads Police On High-Speed, Multi-County Pursuit
SAN FERNANDO VALLEY (CBSLA.com) — A possibly suicidal woman led police on a high-speed freeway pursuit Thursday night across multiple counties.
Officers in the San Fernando Valley began following the woman in a white Ford Explorer around 10:40 p.m. on the southbound 405 Freeway, according to the LAPD Topanga Division.
The incident began when someone called police to report her missing. Police got a hold of her cell phone number and called her.
An emergency dispatcher learned she may be suicidal and tried to convince her to pull over, but she refused to comply.
She threatened to harm herself and possibly harm others before hanging up the phone, police reported.
LAPD handed over the chase to California Highway Patrol, who closely tailed the driver as she picked up speed and made her way onto the southbound 5 Freeway around 11 p.m.
She quickly made her way through San Juan Capistrano and San Clemente.
Stu Mundel reported from SKY2 that the woman wasn't driving erratically, but she was showing no signs of slowing down.
At one point, she was waving out the window and possibly gesturing to the LAPD helicopter overhead.
Officers were concerned that the rain made for dangerous driving conditions and decided not to manually force her to stop with something like a PIT maneuver.
A long line of patrol cars continued to follow her as she made her way through Orange County.
She slowed down in Oceanside, bringing the vehicle to a rolling stop on the 5 Freeway, before being taken into police custody.
