A man wanted by police plowed a stolen flatbed truck into several cars as he weaved in and out of Southern California traffic during a wild high-speed pursuit — that ended with cops piling on top of the reckless driver as he attempted to walk away from his trail of destruction, according to police and footage.
The harrowing chase started around 2:41 p.m. near the Harbor Freeway and Adams Street in downtown Los Angeles Friday afternoon, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
The hour-long pursuit, which was captured on SkyCal footage, showed the erratic motorist topping 100 mph as he dangerously traveled on local streets and freeways to Long Beach — often against traffic — sideswiping cars and barreling into others that blocked his escape.
At one point, the hasty driver narrowly struck a bus at a busy intersection in Pico Rivera before hopping a curb and fleeing on a sidewalk to avoid cars during the mad rush, according to footage shared by NBC 4 Los Angeles.
The motorist continued to evade capture, moving through Santa Fe Springs, Norwalk and other communities on Interstate 605, occasionally soaring on the shoulder of the crowded roadway and clipping multiple cars, the heart-pounding footage showed.
The alarming chase came to an abrupt stop when the driver blew a red light and smashed into at least two cars, sending him off the road where he crashed into a metal rail in the parking lot of a Sherwin-Williams Paints on Termino Avenue.
The unidentified suspect exited the totaled car and casually escaped on foot before nearly a dozen officers wrestled him to the ground a few blocks from the crash site near 7th Avenue and Miramar in Long Beach, the footage showed.
Police said they took the driver into custody five minutes after the pursuit ended at 3:45 p.m.
At least one officer was injured during the takedown and was transported to a local hospital in unknown condition, police said.
No charges have been filed yet, they added.
It is not known how many cars were damaged, the number of injuries sustained and why police were pursuing the suspect.
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