Encino pursuit: 3-minute pursuit ends with crash into 2 houses
A pursuit suspect crashed a Ford Expedition into two houses in Encino early Friday morning.
California Highway Patrol officers attempted to stop a driver on suspicion of driving under the influence on the westbound 101 Freeway at Balboa Blvd. at about 2 a.m. Friday.
The driver exited the freeway about a mile away at White Oak Ave. and drove northbound toward Burbank Blvd., cut through a gas station on the southwest corner, lost control of the vehicle, and crashed into nearby buildings on Burbank.
The suspect sustained minor non-life-threatening injuries and was taken into custody. Officials said the pursuit lasted about three minutes.
Both of the homes on the 17700 block of Burbank Blvd. were yellow-tagged. Both homes were being inspected for structural damage.
People were in both residences at the time of the crash. No occupants were injured.
One house's front room, a bedroom was completely exposed with the wall torn away by the crash. Two people were inside the house at the time of the crash. The house next door sustained damage to the corner of the building. Four people were inside that house. A neighbor said the first house is a short-term rental used on Airbnb.
"I thought that it was an earthquake," said the neighbor, Parvin Nazami, who lives in the second house that was struck. "I was sleeping in my bedroom. I was shaking, I thought an earthquake happened."
Her guest room was punctured and was filled with debris.
Drugs were found in the Expedition, according to investigators at the scene.
"There's a lot of stuff that's suspicious in the vehicle, stuff that looks a lot like drugs, a lot of transitory things that are inside that," said CHP Sgt. Steve Geraty. "We had stopped him for suspicion of DUI but this is turning into a much larger case."
