A chase that began west of downtown Los Angeles and spanned parts of West LA ended in a crash Thursday afternoon in the San Fernando Valley.
The more than hour-long chase, involving a Ford Fusion stolen in the Westlake District, was in Mid-Wilshire, Koreatown and other communities west of downtown Los Angeles. Two people briefly got out of the car near downtown LA, then ran back to the car and drove off again.
The LAPD backed off the pursuit at one point, but a police helicopter tracked the car before a patrol car began pursuing the driver on Olympic Boulevard heading west.
The driver entered the northbound 405 Freeway in West LA, at times passing traffic on the shoulder of the road and in the emergency vehicle lane.
In the San Fernando Valley, the car traveled the wrong way in heavy traffic on Vanowen Street near Sepulveda Boulevard.
A white SUV appeared to follow the Ford after it exited a parking lot. Details about the SUV’s connection to the people in the pursuit car were not immediately available.
The Ford jumped a curb and crashed at a Reseda intersection. At least two people ran from the car as the SUV stopped nearby.
At least three people were in police custody a few minutes later.