An intense police pursuit in California’s Jurupa Valley ended when the suspect’s Cadillac CT5 crashed into a compound wall after the police patrol vehicle’s grappler device missed attaching to the vehicle. This resulted in a SWAT standoff, leading to the suspect’s death.
According to a report by ABC 7 Eyewitness News, the incident occurred on Wednesday afternoon after 2 p.m., which led to a lengthy standoff.
Riverside County Sheriff’s Department stated that deputies intercepted a wanted suspect driving a Cadillac near Pats Ranch Road and Limonite Avenue. However, the suspect refused to stop, sparking the pursuit.
During the pursuit, the deputies were reportedly made aware that the suspect was armed with a handgun. Patrol vehicles chased the suspect through Jurupa Valley before moving on to the eastbound 10 Freeway and the 15 Freeway.
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After pursuing the suspect for an hour, deputies engaged in a standoff near Jurupa Valley High School, prompting the school to go into lockdown as a safety measure. More than a dozen Riverside County Department vehicles were stationed during the standoff, with deputies ordering the suspect to surrender.
Failed Grappler Leads To a Huge Head-on Crash
However, after failing to comply with police orders, the suspect fled, running over a spike strip. Soon, a police patrol armed with a grappler device in front, designed to slow down or stop a car by wrapping a tether strap around the rear wheel or axle, positioned itself behind the suspect’s Cadillac.
Although the grappler failed to attach to the Cadillac’s rear wheel, the suspect lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a concrete wall at high speed behind a residence on Antigua Drive.
An eyewitness who ran for his life when he saw the white Cadillac approaching described the intensity of the impact. He said:
“All of a sudden, I see a white car start coming down the street like really fast. And then they did their maneuver, and I see it coming at the wall, and I ran away from the wall as fast as I could. As I was going, I just heard like a ‘boom,’ and out of the corners of my eyes, I could see like things flying away from me.
“This is insane. Like, you would never think this would happen to you, pretty much.”
Sensing movement in the car after the crash, the deputies got into position for another standoff. In addition to the numerous patrol vehicles, two armored vehicles with SWAT teams pulled up behind the heavily damaged Cadillac.
The suspect likely moved to the rear seat of the Cadillac. As a result, deputies used a drone to see inside the vehicle. A battering ram was then used to break the rear window, and a tear gas canister was thrown into the Cadillac to force the suspect out.
However, he did not step out. Eventually, around 5:45 p.m., deputies opened the rear door to find the dead suspect.