Woman Arrested in L.A. After Chase That Began in Fountain Valley

A possibly suicidal woman led California Highway Patrol officers on a chase Monday from Fountain Valley to West Los Angeles, crashing into at least two cars as she exited the 405 Freeway and coming to a stop in Culver City, where she was dragged out of her vehicle and arrested.

The pursuit began in Fountain Valley when police were called before 3 p.m. to a commercial complex where a woman was seen acting bizarrely and had a hose of some sort sticking out of her vehicle, said Capt. Mike Simko of the Fountain Valley Police Department.

Simko said the protruding hose "was unusual."

"I don't know what her intentions were. We just knew that her behavior was unusual," he said.

Simko said the woman drove off in a Chevrolet Avalanche when officers approached, and the chase began. The pursuit continued north on the 405 Freeway and into Los Angeles County, with the California Highway Patrol taking over the chase.

After driving in the freeway's carpool lane, the woman swerved across the freeway in West Los Angeles and stopped briefly on an offramp. The chase appeared to be over, but the woman turned back into traffic, slamming into the side of a white car that was blocking her path, pushing the smaller vehicle aside. She appeared to side-swipe another vehicle as she worked her way onto southbound Sepulveda Boulevard.

A pursuing officer attempted to stop the vehicle using a PIT maneuver, but the woman continued driving into Culver City, where she came to a stop on a residential street.

CHP officers quickly pulled up behind her, some with guns drawn. The woman got out of her vehicle, and she pointed at them with her hands clasped, as if she was simulating pointing a weapon. She briefly got on the ground, then got up and tried to get back in her vehicle, at which point officers rushed her and dragged her to the pavement.

-- City News Service