A police pursuit that started in San Diego County travelled through Orange County and to the northern end of LA County before concluding on the 5 Freeway in Santa Clarita Tuesday night.
Gil Leyvas and Newschopper4 Bravo caught up with the vehicle at approximately 8:50 p.m. in Mission Viejo after the pursuit had already travelled north for at least 30 minutes.
With police chasing at a safe distance, the driver of the red four-door car was driving at speeds that were close to the posted speed limit, though she often jumped up to over 70 mph.
Per the California Highway Patrol in Orange County, the driver was originally flagged for high speed, and a failure to yield led to the high speed chase, which was originally started by San Diego area CHP.
At approximately 9:25 p.m., the driver continued north on the 5 Freeway past the 91 Freeway interchange into the Buena Park area, about 20 miles south of downtown Los Angeles. About 10 minutes later, the driver was only about 10 miles away from downtown Los Angeles.
The driver, surprisingly, caught little to no traffic and breezed past Dodger Stadium at approximately 9:50 p.m.
The driver continued to use the vehicle's turn signals when changing lanes and kept speeds hovering slightly above 70 mph.
Police Chases
Video from Southern California's police pursuits and follow-ups on what happened after the chase
At approximately 10:07 p.m., the vehicle arrived in the Sylmar area, and law enforcement agencies handed off the pursuit, which occurred multiple times from the origination of the pursuit in San Diego County.
At approximately 10:15 p.m., the driver of the vehicle abruptly stopped on the 5 Freeway just past McBean Parkway in Santa Clarita after the CHP possibly deployed a spike strip.
Soon after, a group of three officers approached the vehicle with less than lethal force, shooting what appeared to be a beanbag shot at the passenger-side rear window.
Then, police officers approached the vehicle at the driver's side and wrestled the driver out of the car. The pursuit ended, and the driver was arrested at approximately 10:20 p.m.
Police officers quickly cleared the scene and drove the vehicle off the 5 Freeway at the next exit, Valencia Boulevard, to allow the backed up traffic to pass through.
It was not immediately clear why the driver did not yield and where she was heading.
