Local News in Brief : Anaheim : 2 Held After Chase Ends in 3-Car Freeway Wreck

A high-speed pursuit of a car-theft suspect ended in a three-car pileup on the Artesia Freeway on Monday, officials said.

The chase began in Anaheim after officers were tipped that a parolee named Michael S. Seeley, 21, a transient, was believed to have stolen a 1988 GMC Suburban.

Anaheim police found a man who matched Seeley’s description driving a Suburban in the area of Gilbert Street and Lincoln Avenue about 11 a.m. When officers tried to stop the car, the driver pulled into a gas station and several unmarked and marked police cars surrounded him.

He then “drove the Suburban into two of the unmarked units and began to drive away on the sidewalk,” Anaheim Police Sgt. James George said.

An officer fired one shot, which hit the side door on the driver’s side, as the car fled west on Lincoln, where it reached speeds of more than 100 m.p.h.

The Anaheim police helicopter followed the car as it wound through Anaheim, Buena Park and then onto the Artesia Freeway (California 91) at Valley View Street, where it crashed into two other cars near the San Gabriel River Freeway (Interstate 605). A driver of one of those cars received facial cuts and was treated at a local hospital.

Seeley was arrested on suspicion of violating parole, possessing stolen property, trying to evade officers, reckless driving and assault with a deadly weapon.

He was being held in the Anaheim Temporary Detention Facility with his passenger, Randy Hikes, 19, of Anaheim, who was arrested on suspicion of auto theft.