Commuters in Sylmar Friday morning were dealing with the effects
of a wild pursuit in which the suspects allegedly opened fire on deputies and
took shots at a Sheriff's Department helicopter the night before.
Freeway closures were still in place Friday morning on the
southbound 14 Freeway to the southbound 5 Freeway, the northbound 5 Freeway to
the eastbound and westbound 210 Freeway, the westbound 210 Freeway to the
southbound 5 Freeway, and the southbound 5 Freeway at the 14 Freeway.
Just after 5 a.m., Caltrans tweeted that most of the area freeways
had reopened, but the southbound 5 Freeway to the eastbound 210 Freeway was
still closed.
The events began about 9:30 p.m. when the investigators say a
suspected DUI driver refused to pull over in the Antelope Valley.
The driver allegedly shot at deputies early on in the
pursuit and took to the 14 Freeway in an attempt to get away.
Additional shots were fired on the 14 Freeway "where the
suspect shot at the sheriff's helicopter," Los Angeles County Sheriff's
Department Lt. Robert Westphal said.
The suspects may also have thrown some narcotics out of the
vehicle at some point during the pursuit, Westphal said.
The driver eventually merged onto the 5 Freeway in Santa Clarita.
Areal video from Sky5 showed the vehicle's hood had popped up and appeared to
be blocking the driver's view.
Deputies use of a spike strip helped disable the vehicle, which
finally came to a stop as the driver was trying to merge onto the 210 Freeway
in Sylmar just after 10:15 p.m.
"At which time the driver exited with a Tec-9 semi-automatic
handgun and a deputy involved shooting occurred," Westphal said.
The suspect was hit in the leg, dropped his gun and ran down
an embankment, he said.
After crossing one direction of traffic and scaling a center
divider, video showed the suspect was clipped by a motorist before he could
finish crossing the freeway.
Deputies rushed onto the freeway and pulled the suspect out
of traffic lanes after an initial struggle.
The suspect was taken to a local hospital in stable
condition, Westphal said.
One deputy was also clipped by a vehicle while chasing the
suspect across the freeway. That deputy was hospitalized and is in good
condition.
"This was an absolutely out of control chase … we're just
amazed that nobody else got injured," Westphal said.
A second suspect remained inside the vehicle and was also
taken into custody. A second handgun was also found inside the vehicle,
Westphal said.
Both men are in their 30s and are from Northern California. The
car they were driving was not registered to them but was not reported stolen,
he said.
Investigators believe both the driver and the passenger
fired their weapons during the chase.
They will likely be charged with assault with a deadly
weapon on a police officer, Westphal said.
To read the article in English. ktla.com
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