High-Speed Chase Ends in Crash, Man’s Arrest

A 21-year-old man was arrested Tuesday after he allegedly attempted to lure juveniles into a stolen vehicle, rammed his car into two police cars and led police from three cities on a high-speed chase until he crashed his vehicle into a block wall, Stanton police said.

Lawrence Wallace Rasmussen was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer, evading arrest, possession of stolen property and vehicle theft, according to a written statement by Lt. Don Creel.

Creel said a Stanton police officer was contacted about 2:30 p.m. at Alamitos Junior High School by several juveniles who reported that a man in a black car had a bottle of liquor and was trying to lure them into the vehicle. Alamitos Junior High is in Garden Grove but is near Stanton, police said.

The Stanton police officer attempted to stop the car in the area of Dale Street and Chapman Avenue, but the officer’s car was struck by the suspect’s vehicle, according to Creel. The suspect then sped off, he said.

The Stanton officer was joined in the pursuit by Westminster and Santa Ana police officers. During the chase, the suspect ran his vehicle into a Westminster police car, then lost control on Newhope Street, north of Woodbury Avenue in Garden Grove, and his car struck a block wall, Creel said.

Rasmussen was treated at Midwood Community Hospital for scrapes and bruises before he was booked into Orange County Jail in Santa Ana, police said.