A Los Angeles woman who led police on a high-speed chase drove her luxury SUV into the ocean, abandoning her two dogs inside her vehicle, which was flipped onto its side by the powerful waves.
The Boston Terriers were rescued shortly after midnight on Sunday after the woman walked away from her waterlogged BMW X3 into the Pacific Ocean.
The woman was pulled from the rushing surf after swimming “like a professional athlete” from the doomed car and toward the fishing pier in Venice Beach, California.
“It was like something out of an action movie, with this car driving over the sand and diving into the water,” one spectator, who gave her name as Sarah Jane, told DailyMail.com. She said she was surprised the woman survived.
According to the California High Patrol, officers attempted to stop the car for speeding on the 10 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles.
A woman was rescued from the Pacific Ocean after driving her SUV into the sea during a high-speed chase with Los Angeles police on Sunday.
The woman was seen paddling in the water, while a Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department boat attempted to save her by throwing a flotation donut into the ocean which she clung to and was then hoisted onto the boat.
The next morning, his car was pulled out of the water, much to the amazement of passers-by.
The chase ended in Venice when the woman – believed to be in her 20s – drove her car onto the sand and into the Pacific Ocean.
“It was cold, dark and the waves were rough,” said Sarah Jane, a tourist from England.
“I really don’t know how she managed to survive, let alone swim such a long distance.”
While onlookers on the pier tried to help by shouting to the woman, some were not as supportive when they discovered the driver had left two of her dogs in the car.
Video footage shows the dramatic moment when two rescuers approach the submerged car, holding flashlights, while searching for other passengers.
As one rescuer looks inside, he gestures to the other rescuer, suggesting someone is in the vehicle.
Then the rescuer opened the backseat door as waves hit the car – only to pull out a small dog, a Boston Terrier.
The lifeguard is then seen walking back towards the sand where two red lifeguard vans are parked with other spectators watching in disbelief.
The car is seen bobbing in the waves after the woman, pursued by police, drove the vehicle over the sand and into the water.
Rescuers rushed to pull the woman and her dogs from the Pacific Ocean.
A spotlight is focused on the woman who was in the water after diving into it.
The suspect then swam into the ocean before being picked up by a police boat a short distance from shore.
A strong police presence was noted on the beach Saturday evening and Sunday morning.
“Another dog, another Boston Terrier, managed to get out of the car while it was still moving and ran onto the sand.
“He was seen wandering around nervously on the sand, until someone picked him up and held him to try to calm him down,” said Josh Sullivan, who was walking his own dog at the time of the incident. .
The woman was seen paddling in the water, while a Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department boat attempted to save her by throwing a flotation donut into the ocean which she clung to and was then hoisted onto the boat.
According to Officer Erik Larson of the California Highway Patrol, the chase began at 11:21 p.m. Saturday in El Monte and ended at 12:03 a.m. Sunday in Venice Beach.
“Both dogs were picked up by animal control,” Larson told DailyMail.com
An officer told DailyMail.com the woman was taken to hospital and the dogs remained at Animal Care Services.
The next morning, beachgoers unaware of the incident were surprised to find a car towed from the water to land and then taken away.
The front window was smashed and mounds of sand were visible on the front and rear seats. Skid marks in the sand were also visible.
One person joked that St. Patrick’s Day starts early in Venice Beach. The CHP withheld the woman’s identity, saying it would release it Monday morning.