Neighbors Try to Stop Arrest of Youth After Police Chase
GARDENA — A police pursuit took an odd twist Wednesday night when the driver finally stopped his car in his neighborhood and a crowd of residents tried to prevent police from arresting him.
The chase began at 7:19 p.m. in South Los Angeles after officers spotted a motorist in an allegedly stolen gold Toyota Camry, said Los Angeles police spokesman Don Cox. Several squad cars tailed the driver for 90 minutes before the driver, believed to be a 16-year-old boy, led police to his mother’s house in Gardena at Raymond Avenue and 168th Street, police said.
When police tried to extract the driver, several residents, including two women, mobbed the officers, punching them and trying to prevent them from making the arrest. Dozens of people gathered in the street and yelled at the officers.
Several people were arrested and the suspect was expected to be booked for felony evading, hit-and-run, auto theft and other crimes, Cox said.
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