A wrong-way driver was taken into custody Friday afternoon following a lengthy standoff in Lakewood after leading law enforcement on a pursuit on the 5 Freeway through Los Angeles and Orange counties.
The vehicle involved in the chase has been reported stolen out of Downey, the Los Angeles Police Department told KTLA. The California Highway Patrol first began pursuing the car near the eastbound 10 Freeway around the 60 Freeway in Los Angeles before LAPD took over the chase.
Sky5 was overhead just after 1 p.m. as the gray Honda made its way from Santa Fe Springs to La Mirada. Then the vehicle made its way into Orange County, from Fullerton to Anaheim.
The pursuit driver then got on the wrong side of the 5 Freeway in Anaheim, driving both on the shoulder and the HOV lane.
The Honda then got stuck on the shoulder of the 5 Freeway in Buena Park when the car encountered a construction zone blocking lanes. The driver paused for a few minutes, apparently waiting to make a U-turn onto the correct side of the freeway.
The southbound 5 was shut down in the meantime as police units pulled up near the car.
The driver then backed up and turned the vehicle back into the correct direction on the HOV and shoulder lanes as officers drew their weapons towards the car.
Police were in a standoff with the driver for several minutes before the Honda got back on the freeway, this time going the right way. But the car slowed to a stop almost immediately and three LAPD units pulled up behind it.
The driver accelerated and a patrol unit sped up, brushing up against the Honda as it continued on, exiting onto Beach Boulevard.
Officers then conducted a PIT maneuver and stopped the car for just a moment before it backed away and continued driving again.
The driver continued on surface streets, again heading into La Mirada then to Fullerton.
Another driver briefly attempted to stop the Honda on Beach Boulevard in La Mirada.
Police laid out a spike strip but the driver evaded it, backing slightly into a patrol unit, then driving off.
The chase continued past 1:50 p.m., with the driver briefly going on the wrong of the road on Bloomfield Avenue in Norwalk, then making another U-turn and heading back to the right side of the road.
Soon after, the vehicle came to stop on Del Amo Boulevard at Winkley Avenue in Cerritos, when another driver pulled up his truck in front of the Honda. Police pulled up and drew their weapons behind the Honda, which was able to move around the pickup truck.
The pickup driver then moved out of the way as at least five police units pulled up and officers drew their weapons.
At some point, police successfully laid out spike strips, damaging the vehicle’s tires.
A few minutes later, after a short standoff, the car started inching forward again and officers got back in their patrol units, following him forward a few feet. But again, the driver continued forward.
A police unit drove into the car three times, but the Honda was able to continue going before patrol units boxed him in on Bloomfield Avenue and Del Amo Boulevard, in front of a Lakewood strip mall.
Two shots were heard, though it was not yet clear whether it was a firearm or less-lethal bean bag rounds.
The driver could then be seen putting his window down and talking to officers.
A standoff ensued from just past 2 p.m. until about 3:15 p.m.
The driver eventually got out of the car and a police K-9 appeared to bite his leg.
Officers fired toward the vehicle — although it was not yet clear whether it was a rubber bullet, bean bag round or otherwise — and appeared to strike the Honda’s window.
Moments later, the man got back in the car and tried to drive away again, but police quickly jammed his car into a sidewalk and surrounded it.
Just before 3:30 p.m., the driver — surrounded by officers — finally got out and surrendered to authorities about 2 1/2 hours after the chase began.
Police took the man into custody in Lakewood.
