Driver crashes into multiple other vehicles mid-chase in Long Beach area
A reportedly stolen flatbed truck collided with multiple other vehicles during a chase in the Long Beach area, which ended when it crashed outside a store and the driver walked away from the wreckage before being arrested.
At 4:20 p.m., about 40 minutes after the chase ended, police said it appeared no one was injured.
While reaching speeds of more than 100 mph for parts of the chase, the driver was seen crashing into a number of vehicles over the more than 20 minutes SkyCal was overhead. The truck sped along the 605 Freeway, and later the 22 Freeway, as well as surface streets — traveling from Whittier to Long Beach — while sometimes going onto center dividers and down the wrong side of the road.
Just after 3:30 p.m., the driver crashed into at least three vehicles while trying to drive around them at an intersection in University Park Estates. Within minutes, the driver hit the side of another car before slamming into two more vehicles.
Less than 15 seconds after that last crash, at the intersection of East 7th Street and Termino Avenue on the Eastside, the truck drove into the front stairway of a nearby paint store.
Outside the Sherwin-Williams, the driver got out of the vehicle and walked away. Two minutes later, officers took him down and handcuffed him as he was walking along a nearby street.
Earlier, LAPD said officers were shifting to a tracking-only mode as California Highway Patrol took over the chase at 3 p.m., authorities said.
The stolen truck hit at least 13 cars during the chase.
When the dust settled, Ricardo Colindes headed to Long Beach to see what was left of his work truck.
Colindes said he was dropping off parts when he realized his work truck was stolen.
"At the beginning, I thought somebody in the shop was making a joke," he said. "I was really mad because all my stuff was there. I was taking care of this truck for a long time, trying to keep it in shape. It's a company truck but I love that truck."
