Police Catch Up With Stolen Car--Much to Its Owner’s Dismay

Stacey Edwards’ reaction to getting her stolen sports car back Tuesday was hardly what Los Angeles police may have expected, considering the effort that officers went through to return it to her.

There was a 90 m.p.h. chase between Encino and Woodland Hills, including a brief race down a sidewalk.

There were six car crashes, including one head-on collision on Ventura Boulevard and a rear-ender that sent two policemen to the hospital with minor knee injuries.

There was the arrest, at gunpoint, of the alleged car thief. And there was a police escort for Edwards to the terminus of the nine-mile pursuit.

But when Edwards, 20, reached the spot where her Mazda RX-7 had crashed to a stop, she found it battered on all sides and littered inside with food and debris.

“It’s sickening. I don’t even want it back,” she said.

Kent Von Severin, 23, of Woodland Hills, was arrested on suspicion of car theft and other charges stemming from the chase.

The pursuit began at about 3:30 p.m. when Severin allegedly smashed into three cars at an Encino service station at White Oak Avenue and Ventura Boulevard.

Mechanics chased the hit-and-run car on foot and with a tow truck, but it sped off down the sidewalk. The men then flagged down a passing motorcycle officer, Steve Dell, and he took up the chase.

As the pursuit continued on side streets and Ventura Boulevard, the fleeing car survived a head-on crash in Tarzana but finally skidded in a puddle and slammed into a curb at Mulholland and Santa Lucia drives in Woodland Hills, police said. A pursuing police car then crashed into its rear of the stolen car, causing the knee injuries to the officers.

At Topanga Plaza in Canoga Park, Officer Mike Sterling heard of the pursuit on his police radio. He recalled that Edwards’ similar-sounding car was stolen from the mall’s parking lot Monday night.

Sterling fetched Edwards from Nordstrom department store, where she is a clerk, and brought her to the crash scene.

Edwards, of Sunland, let police impound her car after she retrieved personal belongings. She said she will probably sell it after her insurance company fixes it.

“It was a nice clean car before,” she said. “I don’t think I want it now.”