Local News in Brief : Man, 21, Held on Drug Charges After Chase

FBI agents shot at a suspected drug dealer’s car, chased it at high speeds through Encino and Van Nuys and finally rammed it before it stopped and the driver was arrested, authorities said Wednesday.

FBI spokesman Fred Reagan said the incident began at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday after undercover agents completed a drug deal with John E. Houghton, 21, of Oxnard and then attempted to stop his car on the Balboa Boulevard entrance to the westbound Ventura Freeway.

As at least two FBI agents approached Houghton’s car to arrest him, he made a “sudden, furtive movement” and the agents opened fire, Reagan said. A number of shots hit the car, but no one was injured, he said. The car sped away and the agents gave chase.

The car left the freeway at White Oak Avenue and sped north and then west through nearby residential areas before it was stopped when an FBI car rammed it near Hayvenhurst Avenue and Saticoy Street, Reagan said.

Houghton was arrested on suspicion of selling cocaine and was being held in the Van Nuys Jail in lieu of $55,000 bail, Reagan said. An undisclosed amount of cocaine was recovered, he said.