Driver Charged With Murder After Crash
The driver of an allegedly stolen car was booked as a murder suspect Wednesday after he led a West Los Angeles motorcycle officer on a short, high-speed chase and crashed into a telephone pole, killing his passenger, police said.
Detective John Gibson said the unidentified driver suffered chest injuries when the car crashed in an alley behind the 1800 block of Pontius Avenue. He underwent surgery at UCLA Medical Center.
The automobile also sheared off a gas meter, prompting the evacuation of 150 to 200 people, mostly from commercial buildings.
Gibson said the suspicious motor officer initially stopped the car at Santa Monica Boulevard and Cotner Avenue, ordered the driver out, and was checking the license number by radio when the suspect jumped back in and sped away.
The name of the dead passenger was not immediately available.
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