Wild Police Chase Ends Up In Rollover Crash

Status
Not open for further replies.

karldotcom

Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2003
Messages
1,850
Location
Burbank, CA
http://www.cbs2.com/video/?id=55212@kcbs.dayport.com



SAN GABRIEL VALLEY - A car chase of an assault with a deadly weapon suspect that wound its way along San Gabriel Valley freeways Monday ended in a crash on a mountain highway above Azusa.

Ruben Smith, 41, was booked on suspicion of felony evading, said Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Mike Rosson.

The chase started in Azusa about 2:20 p.m., officials said. It began when Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies attempted to contact a suspect in a shooting that took place in Pomona on Thursday, sheriff's officials said.

"(The suspect's) family had also asked us to look into him because they were concerned about his stability," said Rosson.

When the deputies attempted to confront the man at his home on the 5000 block of Rockvale Ave. in unincorporated Azusa, he ran to his pickup truck and left the scene, said Rosson.

More than a dozen county sheriff's deputies and California Highway Patrol squad cars pursued the black Nissan Titan along the 210 Freeway, south on the 605 Freeway and onto the eastbound 60 Freeway.

From there, the pursuit headed north on the 710 Freeway to the 10 Freeway, where the suspect headed east. At one point, two armored police cars closed in on the Nissan, prompting it to speed away.

Throughout the pursuit, the driver accelerated to speeds of up to 90 mph then slowed to a halt, officials said. At times he would pull over toward a freeway exit, only to speed up again and continue down the highway.

Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Michael Rodriguez said the man drove dangerously, making quick turns and cutting off other drivers in traffic.

At one point, the driver appeared to be trying to force a tractor-trailer into the center divider, CHP Lt. Merritt Mielke.

At about 3:30 p.m., the Nissan's driver headed off the 10 into a bus-only tunnel that leads to the El Monte Bus Station. As a squad car approached from the station, the driver made a hard turn over a grassy embankment and onto the westbound bus lane back onto the 10 heading west.

After a brief detour onto the 710 North in Alhambra, the pursuit headed back onto the eastbound 10, then north on the 605 back to the 210 eastbound, where the Nissan finally exited the freeway onto Azusa Avenue. From there, it headed north onto Highway 39, which leads into the Angeles National Forest.

At 4:50 p.m. the Nissan failed to handle a sharp mountain turn and slammed into a canyon wall, flipping over and scattering the contents of the truck bed across the roadway. The driver, dressed in what appeared to be a white T-shirt and dark pants, was seen on television footage stumbling out of the smashed vehicle and collapsing a short distance away.

Officials took the driver into custody and searched the vehicle, said Mielke. No weapon was found, he said.

The driver was taken to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center with apparently minor injuries, said Mielke.

"He was airlifted out to a hospital, but that is only because of the remote location (of the crash)," Rosson said.

During the chase, the suspect was in contact with a friend via cell phone, Mielke said. Information from that conversation was passed along to the CHP, he said.

Rodriguez said that the Pomona assault involved no serious injuries.

No one was other than the suspect was injured, Rodriguez said, and no property damage was done other than to the suspect's vehicle.

Lengthy pursuits are not ideal, Mielke said, but "it certainly ended the way we want."
 
Last edited:

key2_altfire

Member
Joined
Nov 5, 2007
Messages
189
I was stuck in traffic due to this chase... it was all over my fave radio stations (AM KFI 640, KFWB 980, KNX 1070). The ONE DAY out of the entire year I've been carrying the IC-R5 in the car, the day of this chase, the R5 was in the trunk!
 

brent1

Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2007
Messages
25
Don't kick yourself too much... I was listening to the sheriff's play-by-play and it was actually very spotty... not a satisfying chase to scan. Also, once they entered the canyons, the radios started having trouble.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top