A car thief led police on a wild chase in Riverside that ended with a smash on Wednesday morning.
Pete Elliot Vega, 37, a known gang member from San Bernardino, was arrested for auto theft, felony evading police, suspicion of DUI and driving without a license, according to Riverside Police.
Patrolling officers said they spotted Vega driving a stolen Chevy Camaro near the area of Tyler Street and Gaylord Street just after 1 a.m.
As officers tried pulling Vega over, he did not cooperate and continued driving away, leading police on a pursuit.
At one point, police say Vega failed to negotiate a turn and instead of pulling over, launched his vehicle directly into the wall of a nearby business building.
A photo from the Riverside Police shows the aftermath of a car thief launching a stolen car into the side of a building in Riverside on Oct. 19, 2022. 
A photo from the Riverside Police shows the aftermath of a car thief launching a stolen car into the side of a building in Riverside on Oct. 19, 2022. 
A photo from the Riverside Police shows the aftermath of a car thief launching a stolen car into the side of a building in Riverside on Oct. 19, 2022.
“Fortunately, he was not injured from his flying car experiment,” said Riverside Police.
The gnarly collision left a large gaping hole on the building’s wall with the mangled car still parked inside.
Police say Vega is a documented gang member on Post Release Community Supervision out of Los Angeles County.
He was taken into custody and is currently being held on $100,000 bail.
