Sheriff’s deputies spent more than 90 minutes Saturday evening in the slow-speed pursuit of a possibly stolen black Honda Civic that went from Lomita to Wilmington and ended in Harbor City.
The pursuit started about 7 p.m. on 259th Place in Lomita with a call of a person acting erratically but it turned out the vehicle was believed stolen and the man drove away when deputies arrived, said Lt. M. Nyberg of the Lomita Sheriff’s Station.
The pursuit wound through Lomita, then Wilmington and “at one point, the suspect rammed patrol cars, which was assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer,” Nyberg said.
Deputies attempted numerous PIT maneuvers designed to spin the car and make it stall but the suspect was driving at a very low speed, which appeared to keep the car from stalling so the suspect kept driving away, he said.
Spike strips flattened the two front tires but that didn’t stop the man from driving the car at speeds between around 10 and 30 mph, as shown on television video. The suspect moved slow enough to maneuver around more spike strips.
The suspect finally stopped around 8:30 p.m. on Vermont Avenue and Anaheim Street near Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park, in Harbor City.
Deputies ordered him to get out of the car 15-20 minutes before they pulled him out, Nyberg said.
The suspect was taken to a hospital to determine whether he was driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, while he faced other charges including assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer, grand theft auto and felony evading, the lieutenant said.