A low-speed police chase ended in a dramatic fashion in Northridge Thursday afternoon, with police slamming a wanted pick-up truck into a tree, sending two people fleeing the still-moving truck.
The chase began shortly before 3 p.m. in Reseda near Saticoy Street and Reseda Boulevard, according to LAPD. Police said that either the driver or the truck was involved in an armed robbery.
Traveling at low speeds during the half-hour chase, the driver took police through residential streets in the San Fernando Valley and thwarted two attempts by officers to stop his truck.
The wanted driver first avoided a spike strip at a busy intersection, then escaped a PIT maneuver on a narrow residential street.
An officer tried to clip the truck's rear corner but slammed into a parked green SUV instead (pictured at bottom), sending pieces of the squad car and the truck's back bumper into the street as the driver continued on, picking up speed.
The driver was barreling down a wider roadway when that same officer slammed into the truck's rear (pictured below), sending it out of control and into a tree. A man and a woman ran from the still-moving truck, followed by gun-wielding officers on foot and in squad cars.
Local
Get Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, COVID, cost of living and more. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news.
Four officers trapped the man behind a parked SUV -- the older driver of which was visibly shaken and escorted away by police. A woman was taken into custody nearby.
The wanted man was transported from the scene in a stretcher. Police said they used a taser to take him into custody. He appeared to be alert and speaking with officers.
The chase ended about 3:30 p.m. near Nordhoff Street and Canby Court in Northridge, about 3 miles from where it started.
More Southern California Stories:
