A car chase in Los Angeles moved across freeways and surface streets Tuesday afternoon after a driver in a reportedly stolen white Mercedes-Benz SUV led LAPD through the city. The pursuit ended for the moment at a downtown L.A. parking structure, where police set up a perimeter and searched for the suspect.
405 Freeway near Culver Boulevard
Shortly before 6 p.m., the SUV used the right shoulder of the southbound 405 Freeway near Culver Boulevard to pass other motorists, then left the freeway and continued through the Del Rey area. That sequence put drivers on both the freeway and nearby streets into the same moving hazard, with the chase shifting fast enough that regular traffic had little room to react.
Slauson Avenue in Hyde Park
By 6:15 p.m., the driver was speeding eastbound on Slauson Avenue in the Hyde Park area, weaving in and out of traffic, running red lights, and at times moving into empty oncoming lanes. Those driving choices widened the risk beyond the immediate pursuit route, since the SUV was no longer confined to one roadway and was cutting across traffic patterns that other motorists rely on to predict movement.
About five minutes later, the SUV entered the northbound 110 Freeway and encountered nearly a dozen dirt bike riders. Some of the motorcyclists were popping wheelies with their front wheel in the air as the SUV merged onto the freeway, adding another layer of uncertainty to a chase already moving at high speed.
Hill and Eighth streets
Just before 6:30 p.m., the driver exited the freeway and entered a downtown L.A. parking structure at Hill and Eighth streets. Police then set up a perimeter around the garage and searched for the suspect, leaving the immediate outcome unresolved after a chase that crossed the 405 Freeway, surface streets, and the 110 Freeway.
Initial reports said the SUV may have been stolen in the Laguna Beach area and that the suspect was possibly armed with a handgun, but neither detail was established in the chase itself. For anyone who crossed paths with the route Tuesday, the practical takeaway is simple: the vehicle was still being pursued as it moved into the parking structure, and the garage search kept the final phase of the incident concentrated in downtown L.A.
