While leading police on a long car chase that stretched from South Los Angeles toward San Diego, a Los Angeles man was focused on one thing: His family. He called his ex-wife during the chase, and, once apprehended, he could be heard saying he loved his family.
The chase began in South Los Angeles, where a suspected drunk driver in a stolen white Lincoln Navigator was involved in a collision around 7:30 p.m., LA County Sheriff's deputies said.
A few minutes later, the man carjacked a truck and drove off, deputies said. California Highway Patrol officers chased the suspect down the 405 and then Interstate 5 through Orange County.
The truck weaved through traffic as CHP officers tried to set up spike strips. San Diego CHP officers took over the pursuit as the truck headed toward Oceanside.
During the chase, the suspect called his former wife, telling her he was afraid to stop because he thought the officers would kill him, police told KCAL9.
The chase continued down the 805 and it appeared the suspect may try to cross the border into Mexico. Instead, he took the 905 east toward Brown Field.
The suspect then headed down Alta Road with a dozen officers and deputies behind him. A CHP officer bumped the rear end of the truck causing it to spin and come to a stop.
It's called pursuit intervention technique, or PIT manuever. The officer who performed the PIT lost control of his car and struck a tree before careening into a ditch.
Officers immediately pulled the suspect out of the truck and arrested him. The officer in the crashed patrol car suffered a neck injury and had to be taken to a nearby hospital for evaluation. The injury did not appear to be serious.
When news crews tried to speak to the suspect as he sat in the back of a CHP cruiser, it was hard to hear him, but he did say, "I love my family."
