A lengthy police of a suspected stolen U-Haul truck started in Norwalk, traveled down through several cities in Orange County before ending in a park in Long Beach Monday night.
Newschopper4 was over the chase around 8:50 p.m., as the U-Haul was traveling southbound on the 405 Freeway. Buena Park police initially started the pursuit but the California Highway Police was assisting, the CHP said.
The U-Haul was suspected to be stolen, according to the CHP.
The driver traveled south on the 405 Freeway past Huntington Beach and took Harbor Boulevard through various Orange County cities, including Costa Mesa, Santa Ana and Fountain Valley.
Eventually, the U-Haul hopped onto the 22 Freeway westbound, heading back towards the 405 Freeway in the Garden Grove area.
The driver ended up taking the northbound 405 Freeway and headed toward Long Beach, but authorities managed to execute a successful spike strip.
The U-Haul's damaged front driver's side tire began to smoke. Eventually, the driver came to a stop on the freeway, but then continued and lost the tire while swerving, doing a u-turn and then exiting in Long Beach.
Down one tire, the driver led police on a chase on Long Beach Boulevard and other surface streets in Long Beach, occasionally driving on the wrong side of the street. A short time later, the front right tire also seemed to be damaged and the U-Haul began to spark while driving on its rims.
The driver entered a gas station at one point and nearly hit a customer vehicle, while running into a pole before backing out and continuing the chase.
After seeming to lose the ability to maneuver due to the lack of tires, the driver crashed into a parked vehicle while attempting a u-turn.
Undeterred, the driver forged forward once again.
Eventually, the driver attempted to drive the lumbering, damaged truck into a park but struggled to maintain controlled and crashed into another parked vehicle. As officers attempted to box in the box-shaped truck, the driver managed to wiggle his way into the park.
However, the truck was running on fumes at this point and did not get far. Officers moved in, smashed the window and forcefully removed the driver from the truck. A woman passenger was also detained.
The pursuit ended around 9:50 p.m. near Long Beach Boulevard and 46th street.
