Stolen Police Car Pursuit Ends in Crash With Suspect in Custody After Hiding in Lakewood

LAKEWOOD, Calif., Jan. 21 (KNN) — A suspect is in custody after stealing a Huntington Beach Police Department vehicle, crashing and then hiding from officers.

The Huntington Beach PD was in pursuit of one of their stolen units around 1 a.m. Tuesday, northbound 605 Freeway from the 405 Freeway. The officer’s AR-15-style rifle was inside the stolen police car.

The suspect ultimately crashed the police patrol vehicle into a parked car on the sidewalk at the intersection of Claretta Avenue and Centralia Street in the city of Lakewood. The suspect did not take the officer’s AR-15 from inside the patrol car when he fled on foot after the crash.

The suspect proceeded to hide in the backyard of a residence in the 12300 block of 211th Street in Lakewood.

Huntington Beach PD and Lakewood sheriff’s deputies set up a large perimeter and used K-9 units to search for the suspect.

Huntington PD officers entered the backyard of the residence and shot multiple less-lethal paintball rounds into a shed where the suspect was hiding.

The suspect fled and jumped the backyard into another residence in the 12300 block of Centralia Street and was taken into custody by multiple officers at 2:40 am.

Randy Dominguez, Video Journalist / KNN