Three arrested after pursuit and two hour manhunt of stolen vehicle suspects

The driver of the stolen truck that led deputies
on a ten minute pursuit is taken into custody
Saturday.

(More photos at end of the article) South Whittier- Three men were arrested Friday after leading deputies on a ten-minute vehicle pursuit in a stolen pickup truck that grew increasingly more dangerous resulting in an order to disengage shortly after an attempt to disable the vehicle failed.

At 10:06 a.m. deputies on patrol began following a stolen vehicle they spotted on Leffingwell Rd near Imperial Hwy in the Sunshine Acres neighborhood of South Whittier while more deputies responded for backup.

Noticing they were being followed, the suspects made a quick right turn onto Fidel Ave from Imperial Hwy and began to flee after seeing that deputies continued to follow from behind.

Initially, the driver stuck close to the posted speed limit as the men headed east on Imperial Hwy into La Mirada. After reaching Valley View Av the suspects returned to Sunshine Acres, a neighborhood centered along Carmenita Rd. with the chase turning more dangerous as it shifted to residential streets in the densely populated area.

The fleeing driver headed back towards La Mirada down Meyer Rd. after an attempt to perform the pit maneuver on Beaty Av near Carmeniita Rd failed. The pursuit was called off as the driver began driving faster, blowing traffic signals and stops signs as the truck turned back onto Imperial Hwy near Big Lots.

Several minutes after the pursuit had been terminated deputies that had gathered at Ecology Recycling for a debriefing on the incident were again sent scrambling as word came in that a Channel 7 helicopter that had been overhead continued following the stolen truck was reporting that three men abandoned the truck at the end of a long driveway in the 12300 block of Louis Ave and were on foot in the area.

The driver was taken into custody first after a resident in the 12400 block of Laurel Av. called 911 stating a man was hiding under a car at a nearby home.

A second suspect was arrested just after the driver hiding on the same lot with several houses where the truck had been abandoned.

The search then shifted about a quarter of a mile to the north to a set of homes on a lot in the 11800 block of Laurel Av. Two men and a woman inside one of the homes were eventually detained after initially refusing a loudspeaker announcement to surrender to deputies after the men were spotted outside the rear of one of the homes by a sheriff's helicopter crew overhead.

One of the men was identified as the outstanding suspect and placed under arrest.