Los Angeles mother speaks after 3 kidnapped children hospitalized following wild pursuit crash
A mother is speaking out after her three boys were hospitalized on Friday when a man stole her car and led authorities on a wild pursuit across Los Angeles County that ended with a crash on the Pacific Coast Highway.
"You blink and you see a stranger in the car with your kids," said Tersa Tax, while speaking with CBS News Los Angeles. "Your kids are crying and desperate for their mom. So they take off their seatbelt; they're reckless, they're scared, they're afraid and you just see someone run away with them."
The chase began Friday afternoon in the 5100 block of E. Olympic Boulevard in East LA, when the unidentified suspect jumped into TKTKTKT's car and took off, even though her three sons, ages 2, 7 and 8, were still inside.
The mother says that not only did she feel helpless without her boys, but she was also unable to call anyone, as her phone was inside the car. She says that as the chase continued, the suspect threw her phone out of the window.
"She was in shock," said Tax's cousin, Katherine. "The fact that her kids were just taken away from her so blatantly it was just a shock to any mother, of course, that her kids were taken."
In a news release issued Saturday morning, LA County deputies said that the woman had gone into a store in the area but left the car running with her children inside. They said that the children's father was in a car nearby when the man jumped inside and started to drive away. He tried to stop the carjacking, but was dragged a short distance and fell to the ground.
As the high-speed pursuit continued, the suspect headed through Malibu and wound up on PCH, where he continued driving until he crashed into another car at the intersection of PCH and Kanan Dume Road in the Point Dume area.
He immediately jumped from the car and ran on foot, leaving the boys behind inside the wreckage of the vehicle. Authorities eventually took him into custody following a brief foot chase, during which he was spotted taking off clothing as he ran through thick vegetation and up hillsides in the area before he was caught.
First responders rushed to the boys' aid and each was taken to the UCLA Medical Center via helicopter. Police said each of the children was in stable condition and suffered injuries ranging from minor to moderate. The eldest two brothers remained hospitalized on Saturday, while the youngest was released to his parents' care on Saturday afternoon.
Family members say they're beyond grateful to have all three back together again.
