A woman who drove on the Venice pier, causing people to leap out of the way to avoid being struck, and then led officers on brief pursuit was in custody Monday.
Officers responded about 9:45 p.m. Sunday to a report of a suspect who drove a vehicle to the end of Venice Pier, near the 3100 block of Ocean Front Walk, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
The woman allegedly then sped down the pier toward officers and other pedestrians, who scrambled out of the way of the vehicle. Some of the action was caught on cell phone video. The woman allegedly struck a bicyclist, but there was no immediate word on that person’s condition.
Officers chased the woman to nearby Marina del Rey, where she was stopped by an officer employing a PIT maneuver, police said. Officers later physically removed the woman from the vehicle and took her into custody.
The woman was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer, but no officers were injured during the encounter and chase, according to the LAPD.
Daniel Lopez, who was fishing with his son on the pier at the time, told NBC4 they had to twice dodge the vehicle.
“It was extremely traumatizing for me,” Lopez told the station. “Everybody was trying to yell, if you hear on the video, was trying to get everybody off the pier.”