Orange County

Watch: Sparks Fly From SUV With Just Three Tires on 405 Freeway

Video shows an Audi SUV with its back hatch open riding on three tires and a brake rotor on the 405 Freeway in the Irvine area.

NBC Universal, Inc.

A bizarre sight with a shower of sparks was caught on camera Tuesday on the 405 Freeway in Orange County.

Chad Towersey watched in disbelief as an Audi SUV with only three tires and an open back hatch pulled alongside in a with sparks coming from the vehicle's right front brake rotor as it scraped on the asphalt. Towersey, of Costa Mesa, said the driver seem oblivious to the SUV's condition.

Towersey said the driver continued for several miles. He figured he had to do something about a potentially dangerous situation on a busy freeway.

"I was just dead set on trying to get her attention so I could get her off the road," said Towersey. "She looked over at me and just gave me this little wave like nothing was going on."

Towersey confronted the driver after she exited from the freeway in Irvine, where he said she rear-ended another driver.

Irvine police said the responded to the scene of the crash. Police told NBCLA they did not see Towersey's video until the day after the encounter, so officers thought they were responding to a minor fender-bender.

The woman was not arrested, but police said the matter remains under investigation. A field sobriety test was conducted, but police said they did not have enough evidence to take the driver into custody.

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.

Stepped-up traffic enforcement patrols planned for Thanksgiving weekend

1 person injured after shooting on 710 Freeway in East LA

The SUV was impounded.

Contact Us