A woman died after a robbery suspect crashed into her car while fleeing police in La Palma on Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.
The victim, identified only as a woman in her 60s driving a blue BMW, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Fullerton Police Department.
The driver of the other vehicle, whom authorities identified as Anthony Hanzel, 40, of Anaheim, was taken to a hospital and treated for his injuries, police said.
Hanzel will be booked into the Fullerton City Jail on charges including hit-and-run, petit larceny and felony evading, authorities said. The Orange County Sheriff's Department will investigate the fatal crash.
Surveillance camera video shared by OnScene.TV shows a white Nissan Rogue running a red light and crashing into a blue BMW, sending it through the intersection of La Palma Avenue and Moody Street. Both vehicles can then be seen colliding with three cars that were stopped at the traffic light.
“I was at the intersection at a red light and I saw a police chase and cars coming straight at me going the wrong way,” Lauren Lau, whose car suffered minor damage, told OnScene.TV. “There was a complete T-bone and then those two cars hit me and then swerved to the side.”
The chase began after a Fullerton police detective spotted a robbery suspect walking away from the area of North Gilbert Street and West Malvern Avenue at 12:38 p.m., police said.
Officers attempted to arrest the suspect, who fled. During the chase, the suspect was involved in a non-fatal hit-and-run collision near Brookhurst Road and Orangethorpe Avenue, police said.
The driver then accelerated onto westbound Highway 91 and exited at Knott Avenue, where officers lost track of the car, police said.
Buena Park Police Department officers briefly saw the suspect's vehicle, but also lost track of it. La Palma Police Department officers then spotted the car at La Palma Avenue and Walker Street and took over the chase. The suspect crashed a short time later.
