Los Angeles police chase: Car with 3 kids inside was stolen from 7-Eleven before dangerous kidnapping chase, deputies say
The suspect at the center of a police chase that ended in a crash involving three children stole the vehicle at a 7-Eleven convenience store before the pursuit, new details reveal.
According to the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, officers were called to a 7-Eleven in the 5100 block of East Olympic Boulevard in East Los Angeles around 6:40 p.m. Friday after a man reportedly stole a Chrysler sedan with three children inside.
The children's mother told deputies she had parked her vehicle outside the store and left the engine running with her three children, ages 8, 6 and 2, inside. The children's father was parked next to them and in his vehicle as the mother entered the store.
That's when police said the suspect got into the woman's car and began to drive away. The father got out of his car and attempted to intervene, getting dragged a short distance by the suspect before falling to the ground. Deputies said he sustained injuries to his upper body.
From there, the chase was on. East Los Angeles Station deputies canvassed the area and located the suspect, but he fled when they attempted to stop him.
The suspect led the chase across the city, getting on the Pacific Coast Highway near Santa Monica.
The chase came to a shocking end when the suspect ran a red light and slammed into an unsuspecting driver making a left turn onto PCH from Kanan Dume Road in Malibu, sparking a four-vehicle crash.
The suspect fled the crash site on foot, running up a steep embankment and into a Malibu neighborhood. He was eventually arrested by California Highway Patrol officers. Deputies said the suspect was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The three children who were kidnapped also sustained non-life-threatening injuries and were taken to the hospital.
A woman in the vehicle that was T-boned was also hurt and taken to a local hospital.
Deputies said formal charges are pending. The suspect was not immediately identified.
