Grand theft auto gripped southern California after a driver allegedly stole a party bus and led police on a high-speed chase, before crashing into another car.
It's believed the driver, who hasn't been named, picked up the party bus from the San Diego area at around 10am on Tuesday, February 22. It's also said that the bus was en route to pick up a client in the Pacific Beach neighbourhood before it was stolen.
The California Highway Patrol was later informed of the stolen vehicle — a 2018 Ford — an hour-and-a-half later when it was driving through west Los Angeles, according to Shanelle Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for the agency.
Shortly after the bus was reported stolen from Top Dog Limo, police located the vehicle and engaged in a long pursuit along the 405 freeway. However, the hour-long chase ended up spanning multiple highways, like the 5 Freeway in San Fernando Valley and the 14 Freeway, because the driver continually evaded the police — they even managed to swerve past a spike strip.
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'We get a call from a driver off the 405 complaining to us that the person driving it was driving crazy on the freeway and doing 90 mph and I explained to him that was a stolen bus and he stayed on the phone until we called dispatch and got somebody out there,' Suzie Leitzke, the owner of Top Dog Limo, told KTLA.
Troopers continued in their chase until around 12.40pm, when the driver rear-ended a silver sedan and came to a halt, allowing officers to apprehend them. The other car appeared to have taken significant damage as a result of the collision, having been hit several feet forward in the crash, although it's unclear if there were any injuries.
The suspect then came out of the party bus with their hands in the air and immediately surrendered to authorities in south-east Antelope Valley, near Palmdale. Authorities initially said they were the only occupant of the vehicle, but later said that hadn't been confirmed due to the bus having tinted windows.
Footage of the chase was shared on social media, where it racked up thousands of views. 'WW3 can wait, we got a stolen party bus in LA,' one user joked. 'Police chasing a party bus around LA right now. F*ck yeah. I'm gonna start writing the movie script,' another joked. 'If ya’ll don’t end this pursuit with a 'well I guess the party’s over', you’re missing an opportunity,' a third joked.
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Topics: US News
Cameron Frew