Suspect Dies After Crash Ends Chase

A 24-year-old murder suspect fleeing police died Wednesday after the car he was driving plowed into the back of a flatbed truck in South Los Angeles, authorities said.

The afternoon chase started after Mitchell Gibson and two other men left a funeral in Inglewood, Los Angeles Police Lt. Marty Cotwright said.

Two of the men exited the car after they realized police were following them. As Gibson got out to take the wheel of the vehicle, officers fired rubber pellets at him, but that failed to stop him, police said.

Gibson then led gang officers, who had been doing surveillance on him, on a three-minute chase, said Officer Jason Lee. The vehicle, a Chrysler PT Cruiser, crashed into the rear of a flat-bed truck at 92nd and Main streets, Lee said.

“The front of the car was basically torn off. [Gibson] suffered massive injuries from the crash,” Lee said.

Gibson died later at King-Drew Medical Center. No one else was injured. The two men riding with Gibson before the chase began were detained but probably will not be arrested, Lee said.

Police said Gibson was one of three men involved in an Oct. 7, 2000, shooting in the 1400 block of East 48th Street that left one man dead. The other two men have been convicted, Lee said. Other details of the slaying were not released.

The FBI had helped LAPD track down Gibson, Lee said.