A man in a suspected stolen pickup truck led California Highway Patrol officers on a two-hour pursuit that began in Hawthorne and traveled across multiple freeways before it ended at around midnight in a residential area of Bellflower.
Angel Mena of South Gate was identified as the man by the South Los Angeles LA County Sheriff's station. Inmate records show that Mena is being held on $75,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in court on Mar. 5.
Deputies from the South Los Angeles station on patrol in Hawthorne received a LoJack hit - a stolen vehicle recovery system integratin with law enforcement to help track and recover vehicles and equipment - on a 2015 Toyota Tacoma at around 10 p.m. Friday night.
CHP officers chased the truck on the eastbound Santa Monica (10) Freeway in the Mid-City area and onto the Santa Ana (5) Freeway in Commerce.
Minutes after, the truck continued to travel across several other freeways including Santa Monica (10) Freeway, Long Beach (710) Freeway, Golden State (5) Freeway, San Gabriel (605) Freeway and the Garden Grove (22) Freeway.
NewsChopper 4 Alpha Eliana Moreno was overhead as the driver traveled on Pacific Coast Highway and exiting on Seventh Street when the suspect turned off the lights of the pick up truck and ran multiple red lights.
The driver then drove on Long Beach Boulevard and entered the Artesia (91) Freeway at high speeds until he reached Alondra Boulevard.
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Almost two hours after leading police on a dangerous pursuit, the driver stopped in a residential area of Bellflower on Potter Street.
A standoff with police reached its end shortly after officers threw a spike strip under the vehicle.
The driver surrendered and was arrested by officers.
No accidents or injuries were reported.
