Los Angeles has quite the reputation for long, high-speed chases. There are probably a few factors fueling this, including the absolute maze of freeways which snake through the area. Two suspects in a stolen Mercedes SUV took advantage of that and more to try getting away.
Police chase ends in the Pacific Ocean.
The chase, which was followed by air thanks to local news station ABC7, went on for longer than the almost 37 minutes of the video. Obviously, police were chasing this suspect before the news chopper began filming.
While the suspects drove right into traffic congestion, which we know is super rare in Los Angeles, the news anchor giving commentary seemed surprised that the driver knew to go on the shoulder. We’ve seen this trick used so many times, but apparently not everyone knows about it.
But there was a long line of LAPD cruisers trailing behind. None tried to get up and perform a TVI and we didn’t see spike strip attempts.
Later, they try blacking out, switching off all the lights on the SUV. Since it’s a dark blue vehicle that’s more effective, but they’re not in the middle of nowhere so police could still track them and so could the news helicopter.
One has to ask if police in Los Angeles had the same pursuit policies as Arkansas State Police, Georgia State Patrol, or even Florida Highway Patrol, would these long chases be pretty much a thing of the past?
Maybe, but there are some suspects with fast cars, like a Hellcat or Z06 Corvette who could still keep ahead of the fuzz.
In this case, these suspects did eventually ditch the luxury SUV and try running away on foot. The driver was caught, however it seems the passenger got away, at least for the time being.
Image via ABC7/YouTube
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