Motorcycle Rider Flees After 100-M.P.H. Chase
A motorcyclist led California Highway Patrol officers on a wild, 28-mile chase Wednesday before he abandoned his cycle at an Encino shopping center and escaped.
The cyclist raced along freeways, surface streets, highway medians and even sidewalks, but there were no accidents or injuries, CHP Sgt. Richard Barton said.
Barton said the chase started about 3 p.m. when CHP officers spotted the motorcyclist speeding on the westbound Ventura Freeway in Woodland Hills. The cyclist exited at the Parkway Calabasas off-ramp but quickly rode back onto the freeway, this time heading east.
Six CHP and Los Angeles Police Department patrol cars gave chase while a police helicopter followed the cyclist. Officers said the man rode onto the Ventura Freeway’s center median to pass slower motorists.
The cyclist led police on and off the freeway and, at one point, sped along Ventura Boulevard at 100 m.p.h., occasionally riding on the sidewalk to avoid traffic, Barton said.
“Our cars couldn’t keep up with him,” Barton said. “Thank goodness for the helicopter.”
The helicopter pilot watched the man disappear into an underground parking garage at the Town and Country Shopping Center near Ventura Boulevard and Louise Avenue in Encino. The suspect is still at large, but officers recovered the motorcycle and the jacket and helmet he was wearing.
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