The driver of a stolen U-Haul truck with an attached flatbed trailer was taken into custody Tuesday morning after an hours-long pursuit through Los Angeles and Orange counties that ended with the vehicle erupting in flames.
NewsChopper 4 Alpha flew over the pursuit as California Highway Patrol officers were in pursuit of the driver in the southbound 5 Freeway in the East LA area.
Just before 6 a.m., the driver of the U-Haul hopped on to the southbound 605 Freeway in the area of Downey.
At about 6:02 a.m., the chase entered the 91 Freeway in Cerritos heading towards Norwalk. Minutes later, the pursuit headed into Buena Park in Orange County before continuing to Anaheim.
At about 6:13 a.m., the driver exited Euclid Street in the Fullerton area before getting back onto the 91 Freeway heading westbound.
Video from NewsChopper 4 Alpha showed the front tires of the U-Haul truck had been blown out, possibly due to a spike strip that had been deployed by CHP on the freeway as the pursuit headed back to Buena Park.
At one point, the U-Haul truck was traveling at speeds of approximately 55-70 MPH before considerably slowing down to 15-25 MPH after experiencing two damaged tires.
Shortly before 7 a.m., flames engulfed the right front tire of the U-Haul truck with heavy black smoke showing forcing the driver to exit in Bellflower and abandoning the U-Haul in the area of Beach St. and Bellflower Blvd.
Firefighters quickly worked to extinguish the fire as it consumed the U-Haul truck.
The male driver was taken into custody in the area of Park St. and Bellflower Blvd. after a brief foot pursuit in which he summersaulted over a fence and appeared to have trouble keeping a shoe on.
It was not immediately clear how the truck was stolen but CHP says the pursuit began in Buena Park with Buena Park police at about 4:52 a.m. after the U-Haul was reported stolen.
The investigation is ongoing.
Source: NBC Los Angeles
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