A police pursuit of a suspected stolen vehicle featured two crashes and an apparent vigilante getting involved in the San Fernando Valley area Monday night.
Newschopper4 Alpha and Eliana Moreno were over the chase at approximately 8:30 p.m., with the chase concluding at approximately 9:40 p.m.
The pursuit began in the Los Angeles Police Department's Mission Division, and the LAPD said the vehicle was a suspected stolen vehicle.
Almost immediately after Newschopper4 Alpha arrived over the chase, the pursuit vehicle crashed into another vehicle. However, the suspected stolen vehicle drove away from the scene of the crash, adding a hit-and-run to the list of charges the driver was likely facing.
The vehicle continued to drive at high speeds, often on the wrong side of the street, in the San Fernendo Valley area.
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Soon after, the driver stuck another vehicle on Nordhoff Street, near the 405 Freeway entrance.
As the chase continued into Panorama City, the driver attempted to drive through a red light while a family was crossing the street shortly after 9 p.m. The family managed to evade the driver, but it was a near miss, with one of the pedestrians visibly upset.
Later, the driver managed to grab what appeared to be a cigarette from a man on a street corner. Soon after, the driver seemed to upset another pedestrian that chased after the car on foot and threw something at the vehicle.
It was unclear why the driver was upsetting people seemingly not involved in the pursuit, but one particular man in a pickup truck appeared to be ticked off enough to follow the pursuit vehicle for an extended period of time and even tried to block off the pursuit vehicle's path multiple times.
The pickup truck driver went on the wrong side of the street, ran stop signs and ignored traffic laws in his chase of the pursuit suspect. With police units keeping their distance, the pickup driver quickly turned into the vehicle chasing the pursuit suspect.
Even after the police resumed the chase, the man in the pickup truck continued to chase the pursuit vehicle, eventually pulled in front of the suspected stolen vehicle and blocking the driver's way.
The suspected stolen vehicle driver surrendered to police soon after.
The pickup truck driver proceeded to drive away from the arrest area, but police quickly tracked the man down and pulled him over. The driver of the pickup truck was also detained as the pursuit came to an end near the intersection of Willis Avenue and Nordhoff Street in Panorama City.
