The driver of a suspected stolen flatbed truck collided into multiple other vehicles during a chase in the Long Beach area Friday afternoon and was arrested minutes after crashing the truck and walking away from the wreckage.
After reaching speeds of more than 100 mph moments earlier, the driver crashed into at least three vehicles while trying to drive around them at an intersection in University Park Estates just after 3:30 p.m. Within minutes, the driver hit the side of another car before slamming into two more vehicles.
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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 arrested 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.
Driving down the southbound 605 Freeway, from Whittier through the Long Beach area, the driver reached speeds of more than 100 mph. Later, by 3:36 p.m., the driver had moved onto the westbound 22 Freeway, and moments later, crashed into a number of vehicles. The driver also went onto center dividers multiple times during the pursuit.
It's unclear just how many other vehicles were struck throughout the more than 20 minutes the pursuit went on for.
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