Stolen box truck driver taken into police custody after rainy pursuit
A driver of a stolen Lowe's box truck led police on a nearly two-hour chase through Santa Monica, Malibu, and into Ventura Wednesday afternoon before getting chased down and arrested.
The pursuit began in Santa Monica around 11:30 a.m. when the Los Angeles Police Department followed the stolen delivery truck on the 405 Freeway, then the 10 Freeway before reaching Pacific Coast Highway.
The driver was seen weaving through narrow lanes of traffic on PCH, reaching speeds up to 70 mph. The truck hit at least one other vehicle during the pursuit.
LAPD patrol units largely backed off the pursuit as the truck continued to drive north on PCH through Malibu toward Ventura, but they continued to track it from the air.
The California Highway Patrol took over the pursuit as the truck entered Ventura County.
Around 12:15 p.m., the truck turned around and started heading southbound on the 101 Freeway in Camarillo toward Thousand Oaks.
The stolen truck driver hit another box truck while switching lanes on the 101 Freeway in Thousand Oaks. The driver of the "Mr. Tire" truck attempted to make the suspect pull over, but was unsuccessful.
"He broke my right mirror and then I just thought he was a hit-and-run, so I tried to catch him," driver Roy Perdomo said. "I didn't know it was a pursuit of a chase because I don't see any highway patrol behind me or behind him."
Unaware that he was in the middle of a pursuit, Pedromo tried to get the driver's attention by pulling up alongside the man that hit him hoping he would stop. He said he immediately realized that the suspect didn't work for Lowe's.
"He was making signs," Perdomo said. " I don't know, like a gang member or something and I said, 'This is something else."
Perdomo tried to get the suspect to pull over by pumping his brakes in front of Lowe's truck.
"I tried to stop him and I hit my brake and he hit me in the back," Perdomo said. "I said 'Maybe he's going to stop, but he continued."
Ventura CHP laid a spike strip, puncturing the left front tire of the stolen truck, but the driver kept going, even through an enforcement stop.
The driver ultimately ended up crashing at Northbank Drive and Ventura Boulevard, where officers surrounded the truck.
Less-than-lethal shots were fired to shatter the truck's window as the driver refused to get out. He eventually jumped out and ran before officers tackled him to the ground. He was taken to the hospital as a precaution.
The Lowe's truck was full of appliances and was damaged.
