Puppies rescued after police pursuit in Pacoima ends in crash into wall

Puppies were rescued after a short, wild pursuit that ended with the suspect slamming into the block wall of a barbershop in Pacoima after crashing through a railroad crossing.

LAPD officers spotted a vehicle driving swerving on West Van Nuys Boulevard at about 11:50 p.m. Wednesday and tried to stop the driver, who took off, police said. Two minutes into the pursuit, the vehicle crashed into a railroad crossing, through a lot and into a barbershop.

Two people were taken into custody and taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries. 

But what first responders didn't expect was to find two puppies in the vehicle.

One was find right away, but the second wasn't found until hours later, after a small fire had been extinguished. Both were safely extricated from the vehicle, and are in the care of the East Valley shelter until animal services can determine who owns them.

The driver, who police say had tried to climb over his female passenger to run away, was ultimately arrested on suspicion of DUI.