Police pursuits don’t always end well, and they can often lead to injuries. Since the police know that pursuing a suspect can lead to collisions, they often stop their pursuits when they’re in populated areas. Doing this helps protect the public from injuries caused by accidents due to reckless or dangerous driving behaviors by a suspect.
Sadly, this halt in police activity doesn’t always come in time. Take, for instance, this case in which a driver was hurt when her SUV was struck by a driver who was fleeing in a stolen work truck. The vehicle struck hers at around 5:20 p.m., at Orange Grove Boulevard at Holly Street.
The chase began when a 51-year-old man fled in a stolen vehicle from Bell Gardens. After the collision, he was arrested for felony hit-and-run, suspected grand theft auto, evading an officer and causing serious bodily injury. The man was also in violation of probation and wanted for that violation.
Throughout the chase, the man had repeatedly sped at high speeds through rush-hour traffic, on freeways and sometimes on side streets. He ended up being involved in four different collisions over the course of the chase, which lasted just over an hour.
Bell Garden police stopped chasing the man due to safety concerns at 4:51 p.m. A short time later, the California Highway Patrol took over pursuing the vehicle. When the man saw the officer, he fled and ran two red lights prior to hitting the woman’s SUV. She suffered moderate injuries and was taken to the local Huntington Hospital for medical care.
