Deputies Kill Man After 2-Hour Chase

Three Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies fatally shot an unidentified man Thursday in Lancaster after a two-hour chase that ended when the man charged one of the deputies with a rake, authorities said.

The chase, which did not exceed 40 miles per hour, began when the man nearly struck a sheriff’s patrol car from behind at a stoplight. The deputy in the patrol car noticed the man had his bright headlights on, and in the ensuing chase the suspect ran at least 40 red lights, Sheriff’s Lt. Dan Burt said.

The pursuit ended about 1:30 a.m. in the parking lot of the Antelope Valley Medical Center, when the man crashed his Toyota pickup into a wall and then ran toward a deputy with a rake. Three deputies then fired their revolvers, shooting the man several times in the head and chest, Burt said. Investigators found that the man, who appeared to be in his 30s, had used the garden tool to slash his wrists as he was being pursued.

The names of the three deputies who fired were not disclosed.