Two California Highway Patrol cruisers in pursuit of a speeding motorcyclist on Saturday afternoon collided with each other and crashed through a La Puente home’s wrought-iron fence — coming to rest very close to the front of the house.
“I see two Highway Patrols on the frontyard right by my mom’s room, and I run to check on her,” Nestor Rendon, an occupant of the home, told KABC-TV. “She was fine, thank God.”
Around 4:40 p.m. Saturday, California Highway Patrol officers attempted to pull over a motorcyclist traveling westbound on the 10 in the San Gabriel Valley, according to authorities. The motorcyclist continued to speed off, leading pursuing officers off the freeway.
At the intersection of Ector Street and Hacienda Boulevard, the CHP cruisers crashed into each other, sending at least one bursting through a house’s white wrought-iron fence and onto the frontyard, according to TV news outlets. Another car, unrelated to the police chase, also struck a nearby fire hydrant.
No one was seriously injured, a CHP spokesperson said. But the crash was an alarming reminder of how often bystanders are swept up in the chaos of Southern California law enforcement pursuits.
Los Angeles Police Department officers alone have been involved in at least 4,203 pursuits since 2018, according to an April report by The Times. About one-quarter (1,032) resulted in injuries or death, and people who aren’t involved in the chase are more likely to be hurt or killed than the fleeing suspect.
An aerial law enforcement unit found the suspect, who had ditched his bike and attempted to hide nearby. He was apprehended around 5:20 p.m.
Tony Briscoe
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