Two late-night LAPD pursuits end in crashes, leaving at least six injured
A pair of LAPD street pursuits ended in accidents that left at least six people hospitalized late Monday and early Tuesday, authorities said.
At around 12:35 p.m., officers began pursuing a car near Washington Boulevard and Figueroa Street in Historic South-Central that had been involved in a carjacking earlier in the evening, police told The Times.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, two suspects armed with handguns stole the owner’s car.
Shortly after police began pursuing the vehicle, it crashed into two other cars on Washington and Western Avenues.
Six people were taken to hospitals with injuries, including a 20-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman in critical condition, the Los Angeles Fire Department said. No officers were injured.
Video from the scene showed firefighters attempting to pry open the door of one of the cars to free trapped passengers.
Four suspects in the stolen car – three 14-year-olds and one 16-year-old – tried to run away, but were all apprehended, police said.
Video showed police arresting a few suspects, one of whom was crying and bleeding from the knee and the other had a bloodied face.
About two hours earlier, officers began pursuing a 1995 Chevrolet Tahoe on East 84th and San Pedro streets in Florence after a license plate check found it stolen, the LAPD said.
The Tahoe crashed into another SUV at 82nd Street and Central Avenue and the female driver, age 29, and a male passenger, 37, fled the area on foot but were arrested shortly afterward, police said. The woman was arrested on suspicion of evading police and the man on suspicion of possession of heroin and other charges.
It is not clear if anyone was taken to hospital.
None of the suspects or other motorists were identified.
The nighttime accidents follow a series of recent collisions with vehicles pursued by the LAPD that have killed and seriously injured bystanders.
On. On February 16, a woman driving to a concert was hit by two suspects on the run from the police, putting her in an induced coma.
The accident happened just hours after a 19-year-old Cal State Northridge student was killed when a robbery suspect who was being chased by police ran a red light and crashed into his car.
A high-speed crash on January 31 in Panorama City killed two bystanders. LAPD Chief Michel Moore said the department would investigate whether that pursuit followed policy.