Part of the 710 Freeway was closed following the end of a pursuit. Mekahlo Medina reports for the NBC4 News at 11 a.m. on Monday Sept. 30, 2024.
Part of the 710 Freeway was closed for several hours at the Long Beach International Gateway bridge Monday morning after a pursuit that stemmed from a carjacking and break-in at a Wilmington pharmacy.
The series of crimes began with a carjacking reported at about 3:30 a.m. The passenger, who was still inside the car was released shortly after the carjacking.
The car was then used in a pharmacy break-in reported at about 4:20 a.m. in the 200 block of Anaheim Street in Wilmington.
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Pharmacy owner Ash Soliman said the burglars got away with a bottle of cold medicine. He called police after seeing the crime on video from his security camera, which showed about 11 people getting out of the carjacked Mercedes-Benz.
"What I would suggest to other pharmacy owners, as well as other business owners, don’t skimp out on your security systems," Soliman said, adding that this was the sixth break-in in two years at the pharmacy.
Several people involved in the burglary then led police on a chase that ended on the Long Beach International Gateway bridge connecting downtown Long Beach and Terminal Island.
Occupants ran from the vehicle in the area of Pier T in Long Beach. Eight people were taken into custody, but authorities were searching for at least one more person, police said.
"LAPD SWAT responded and is searching for a suspect who was seen on a catwalk under the… bridge,'' the LAPD statement said. "No suspects are believed to have jumped into the water or from the bridge."
Search teams on boats were in the water under the bridge.
The 710 Freeway was closed at the bridge at about 6:30 a.m. Monday for the investigation and search. Details about when it will reopen were not immediately available.
Video from the scene of the pharmacy burglar showed a shattered front window at the business. Details about what, if anything, was taken were not immediately available.
The bridge, a replacement for the historic Gerald Desmond Bridge, opened to traffic in October 2020. It was officially named the Long Beach International Gateway Bridge by the California Legislature in August 2022.
About 15 percent of the nation's imported waterborne cargo is trucked over the cable-stayed bridge with a deck that rises 205 feet above the water.
Late last week, the Vincent Thomas Bridge in nearby San Pedro was closed due to an big rig rollover crash and lithium ion battery fire.
