A high-speed chase of a truck that had been reported stolen that topped 90 mph ended in a collision on the southbound I-5 Freeway today, critically injuring the suspect and causing a rush hour backup that extended for miles.
The chase began when Anaheim police officers received an anonymous tip around 4 p.m. about a stolen Ford F-250 pickup truck car, according to Anaheim police Sgt. Bob Dunn.
The suspect sped onto the 57 Freeway and 55 Freeway in an attempt to elude a growing number of Anaheim and California Highway Patrol squad cars in pursuit, Dunn told City News Service.
By the time the truck entered Interstate 5, its speed topped 90 miles per hour, Dunn said.
The truck's male driver lost control of the vehicle at Camino De Estrella, where it collided with another vehicle, then slammed into the freeway's center divider and rolled over several times, according to Dunn.
The driver was ejected and taken to a hospital in critical condition with life-threatening injuries, Dunn said.
A male and a female who were also in the truck were also hospitalized, but their injuries are not considered life-threatening, Dunn said.
The driver of the other vehicle complained of pain and was taken to a hospital with minor injuries, Dunn said.
All southbound lanes of Interstate 5 were closed at Camino De Estrella, and snarled rush hour traffic produced a backup extending more than 5 miles in both directions by 6 p.m., ABC7 reported.
The names of the truck's driver and passengers have not been released.
— City News Service
Please save us from any and all Scary calamities that might befall us! Thou art our pavement savior and we worship thy mighty concrete ribbon of freedom and safety. Amen.
Took us 3 hours to go about 5 miles.... but we had great music and had just been to Disneyland, the happiest place in the world, and had just stopped at Starbucks, so we were just fine, enjoyed some family time chit chattin'and amused ourselves with our smart phones and ipad. However, our daughter did have to pee in the empty Starbucks cup! Ewwww!
There is San Onofre down there & what if something happened there, necessitating an evacuation or some other type of issue? Other areas of the country at least have a network of surface streets & major streets. Down there it all funnels mostly onto the 5 w very limited alternatives. This issue was just a major inconvenience, but I wonder about if any emergency vehicles were seriously delayed by this? It could well have happened. Its hard to pull over for them if the freeway or roadways are totally jammed. So some thought needs to be put into making sure that there are adequate options for people to evacuate. & of course on holidays like Thanksgiving sometimes traffic can just creep along. I remember several years ago we headed to Valley Center (by Escondido). It took us about 1/2 hr to just get to Ortega from La Paz. I heard of others who just gave up on their Thanksgiving plans & went home that year. I don't know if it was just LOTS of people or if there had been some type of incident. Most years it wasn't that bad, but it happens.
We don't need to pay for sh*t, Mr. Moonbeam and his thugs up in sagramento need to start using funds as intended and quit lining their pocketbooks and giving us B.S. I do agree with the other poster here, stop the pursuits, follow the turds from a chopper, give them a warning. If they don't stop. Take them out. As for keep the freeway closed for six hours? They just wanted to piss all of you off.
"El Toro Resident"....you are a "troll road". buy a dictionary.
"El Toro Resident"....you are a "troll road". buy a dictionary.
Cheap mine fields on the border are best!! Very cost effective. After 2 weeks the problem is solved and the wild animals are fed...