A high-speed police chase in Long Beach ended Monday night in a fiery crash that reportedly left a suspect trapped in a damaged car, from which he called for officers' help.
Four people, including two suspects, were hospitalized with injuries.
At 5:27 p.m., police attempted to stop a possibly stolen vehicle near 4th Street and Cerritos Avenue in a neighborhood near downtown Long Beach.
The male driver failed to yield to officers and was involved in a traffic collision near 4th Street and Cherry Avenue, less than a mile from the start of the chase, according to Hannah Ortiz, a spokeswoman for the Long Beach Police Department.
A preliminary investigation into the incident found that the suspect, being pursued by officers, ran a red light while traveling east on 4th Street at Cherry Avenue and was struck by another car traveling south on Cherry.
Several vehicles were damaged in Monday night's crash following a police chase in Long Beach.
(KTLA)
“The impact of the collision caused the suspect vehicle to strike three unoccupied parked cars,” Ortiz said.
Immediately after the collision, the driver of the allegedly stolen vehicle exited the car and fled on foot. The man was found near the 200 block of Florida Street and taken into custody.
The passenger of the allegedly stolen vehicle, trapped inside the car, screamed at officers saying he couldn't get out of the car because he was injured, KTLA reported. Long Beach police rescued the man and he and the driver were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries to their upper bodies.
A person waves from a damaged car during Monday night's incident in Long Beach.
(On stage.TV)
The driver and passenger of the crashed car, who was not involved in the chase, were also taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The driver and passenger of the allegedly stolen car are awaiting criminal charges, pending medical clearance, Ortiz said.
The department declined to release the identities of the victims and suspects; the investigation is still ongoing.
