A brazen burglary suspect in a Ford Mustang convertible did doughnuts on Hollywood Boulevard today, drove the wrong way on rain-slick streets and taunted pursuers before parking the damaged vehicle in a South Los Angeles neighborhood, where he and a cohort gave up.
The roughly 90-minute chase began about 3 p.m. when sheriff’s deputies spotted the suspects who reportedly were involved in a burglary in Cerritos.
The burglary was reported about 1:25 p.m. in the 12300 block of Charlwood Street, but the suspects fled the location before deputies arrived, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which patrols Cerritos.
Deputies received a description of the suspects and vehicle information from a neighbor and the Mustang was spotted by a sheriff’s aero unit heading from the westbound Artesia (91) Freeway to the northbound Long Beach (710) Freeway, according to the sheriff’s department.
The air unit followed the car until California Highway Patrol officers began a pursuit as the suspect driver steered the dark-blue convertible north on the Harbor (110) Freeway toward downtown Los Angeles.
At one point, the suspects put the convertible top down, even though a steady rain was falling.
The vehicle headed north on the Hollywood (101) Freeway and exited at Hollywood Boulevard, where the driver spun the vehicle in tight “doughnut” circles with pursing Los Angeles police vehicles nearby.
The driver headed north on Laurel Canyon Boulevard, then east through the Hollywood Hills before emerging back on Hollywood Boulevard.
After getting onto the Hollywood Freeway again, the Mustang was cut off by a TMZ tour bus. The suspect in the passenger seat threw something at the bus as the driver steered the Ford around it.
By then, a front tire of the Mustang was shredded, possibly from a spike strip, but the motorist kept going, despite an exposed wheel rim.
The driver then headed south on the Hollywood and Harbor freeways before exiting at Adams Boulevard and continuing to the area of Central Avenue and 51st Street, where the driver stopped and got out, awaiting deputies who took him and the passenger into custody as a crowd of people gathered. A third man was also taken into custody where the pursuit came to an end.
Some of the onlookers spoke with and high-fived the suspects, even taking selfies with the two, before deputies arrived.
Other people cheered the suspects on as they passed during the chase and the suspects appeared to respond with fist pumps.
During the pursuit, the Mustang appeared to clip another vehicle, but the suspect driver kept going.
Because of public safety concerns, police ended their pursuit of the Mustang as it made its way through South Los Angeles.
After the vehicle stopped, units from the LAPD stood by until sheriff’s deputies arrived.
The suspects were taken to the sheriff’s Cerritos Station, where they were to be booked on suspicion of burglary, among other charges.
— City News Service