Police were pursuing and tracking a vehicle believed to be stolen for hours in Los Angeles on Monday morning.
The pursuit was said to have started in the Hollywood area, and a Los Angeles Police Department official confirmed to KTLA that it started around 8:30 a.m. after the car’s owner reported the vehicle stolen and said they were tracking it.
Sky5 arrived at the chase as it was in Beverly Hills. The driver of the vehicle at one point knocked over a planter while driving in the wrong lane and nearly hit a Los Angeles Police Department unit.
The driver managed to navigate around several squad cars before making their way through a shopping center. They continued driving east towards via several main thoroughfares, including Wilshire Boulevard and La Brea Avenue.
Eventually, the driver made their way to Highland Avenue and began traveling towards the 101 Freeway in the Hollywood area. Squad cars were still actively pursuing the black sedan at 9 a.m., where it made a U-turn at Highland near the Hollywood Bowl.
The black sedan then made its way onto the northbound 101 Freeway, where traffic was relatively light for a Monday morning. The sedan exited the freeway at Barham Boulevard near Universal City before making a right on Cahuenga Boulevard.
At that point, LAPD units were still chasing the car, albeit from a distance, as an air unit tracked the situation from overhead. The sedan briefly hid below an underpass but was sighted shortly after, still on Cahuenga.
It then proceeded to the 134 Freeway going north by 9:10 a.m., but squad cars were still backed off then. The driver, by that point, was going the speed limit and generally following traffic laws.
Around 9:20 a.m., a sole LAPD unit was trailing the vehicle but had its lights and sirens off. The driver had made their way back to Cahuenga Boulevard.
About four minutes later, the units re-engaged the pursuit, and the driver began maneuvering more erratically; however, units had backed off moments afterward and reentered surveillance mode.
The car later stopped at a red light on Highland and Hollywood Boulevard, seemingly obeying traffic laws again. They did nearly hit two pedestrians in a crosswalk, however, while making a right turn moments later.
The driver momentarily parked near Rosewood and Formosa avenues in the Fairfax neighborhood before abruptly making a U-turn again and continuing through several neighborhood streets.
Around 9:45 a.m., it was alleged that the owner of the stolen vehicle may have gotten in contact with the driver; an SUV was seen next to the sedan, seemingly talking to the driver, but that car drove away.
The sedan reported stolen then parked on Alta Vista Boulevard near Clinton Street for about a minute before turning around again. No units were seen in the area at that time; however, it did appear that at least one civilian vehicle was following the stolen sedan at certain points.
The driver stopped again briefly at Keniston Avenue and 9th Street in Mid-Wilshire. By this point, police were still tracking the vehicle from the air more than an hour after the pursuit first started.
The driver stopped again and parked on Redondo Boulevard near Edgewood Place, this time remaining stationary for longer than they had the previous times, but they drove off after about two minutes.
By 10:25 a.m., ground units had started trailing the sedan again as it drove along Venice Boulevard.
Approximately seven minutes later, the pursuit was called off again, according to an LAPD spokesperson.
Shortly after that, police helicopters discontinued their tracking.
By that point, it was 10:35 a.m. and the driver had made their way to Culver City.
Preliminary reports indicated there may be a tracker on the vehicle, which is what prompted authorities to discontinue the chase out of caution for public safety.
The sedan was still driving randomly through different Los Angeles neighborhoods by 11 a.m., more than two hours after the pursuit was first reported.