Woman Allegedly Steals Truck With Children Inside, Leads Police on Chase

A woman allegedly stole a pickup truck with three children inside before dropping them off at a restaurant and leading police on a high-speed chase over 80 miles across Los Angeles County, police said.

The chase began after 9 p.m. when the woman stole the truck from an Auto Zone in Apple Valley. The children were inside, officials said. The woman dropped them off at Tom's restaurant in Victorville.

"They were just scared," said Crystal Gonzalez, who works at the restaurant and called police to help them. "They were crying. They were asking where their dad was."

The kids told Gonzalez that their dad told them to stay in the car while he went into a Home Depot for five minutes. That's when the woman jumped into the truck and took off with them inside, saying she knew their father and it was going to be OK.

Gonzalez said the children — two boys and a girl, about 5 and 6 years old — could only describe the suspect as wearing a hoodie. After dropping them off, the suspect led police on a chase for more than an hour, weaving in and out of traffic over several freeways at speeds up to 100 mph.

The chase ended on a residential street at 10:17 p.m. as the pickup truck was driven towards two Whittier Police Department vehicles and came to a stop.

It was not immediately clear if the suspect had a defense attorney.

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