CHP PITs Fleeing Lexus Missing A Tire

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Los Angeles truly is the land of long police chases. While the OJ Simpson pursuit is often cited for its ridiculous nature, we’ve seen quite a few others this year, not to mention in past years, which make us wonder. For example, one that happened recently involved a suspect switching vehicles and lasted for about two hours.

A speeder behind the wheel of an Aston Martin gets a slap on the wrist.

We know some people believe not ending a chase with a PIT maneuver is the right call. But we have to question the effectiveness of allowing a suspect to flee for a couple hours.

This one started with the suspect being pursued in a reportedly stolen vehicle, says ABC7. Instead of going fast and hitting the highway, the suspect stuck to surface streets and went about the speed limit.

Perhaps because of that and only running a few red lights, again not at high speeds, Los Angeles Police just hung back and didn’t try to PIT the suspect out. They were reportedly concerned the suspect might be armed, meaning an aggressive move could end in a shootout.

Everyone can debate whether that was the right move or not. All we know is it allowed the guy to ditch the one car and jump into the back of a Lexus which was waiting for him. That was over an hour after the chase began.

The second driver wasn’t nearly as tame, going fast and taking to the freeway. That’s when California Highway Patrol jumped in to help.

Eventually, police were able to spike the tires on the Lexus, blowing the front driver’s side to slow down the suspect driver. But the guy kept going, sparks shooting from the wheel rim grinding on the pavement.

With it plainly obvious a forced end was necessary, CHP pitted the Lexus, creating quite the light show with sparks really shooting out from the bare wheel.

Image via ABC7/YouTube

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