Driver Reaches Speeds Up to 100 MPH in Pickup Pursuit

The driver and a passenger in a heavy-duty pickup involved in a police chase at speeds up to 100 mph along a Southern Cailfornia freeway on Tuesday eventually surrendered without incident.

The pursuit started at 1:12 p.m. in the Monrovia area after the driver failed to yield for a traffic stop, police said. An officer spotted the truck in a neighborhood after a resident called reporting the truck driving up and down the street, said Capt. Nels Ortlund.

He added that police thought the men in the truck may have been "casing" a home for a possible burglary. Arcadia police were also investigating a possible link to a jewelry store break-in nearby.

The chase ended about 2:20 p.m. in Ontario with the men being taken into custody.

The pursuit mainly centered along the Foothill (210) Freeway in the San Gabriel Valley and other areas east of Los Angeles.

Speeds topped 100 mph, with the driver swerving in between other vehicles and getting off and back onto the freeway.

At one point, Monrovia officers called off the ground pursuit "in the interest of public safety" after identifying the driver, said Capt. Ortlund.

The department opted to track the driver from above in a helicopter before the CHP took it over.

The pursuit ended when the pickup got off Interstate-10 at Archibald Avenue and pulled onto the dirt shoulder. Police said the driver faces felony evading and driving under the influence charges.

Patrick Healy contributed to this report.

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