Suspects’ Car Rams Truck Full of Gravel

Two robbery suspects trying to outrun police were seriously injured Thursday when their car swerved into oncoming traffic and crashed into a pickup truck loaded with gravel, officials said.

The two men, whose identities were not immediately known, were speeding south on Central Avenue when they ran a red light and swerved onto the wrong side of the street, hitting an oncoming car. That car pushed them into the truck, which was stopped at a light at Slauson Avenue and Central in South-Central Los Angeles, Police Department spokesman Bill Frio said.

The suspects’ car flipped over several times after it broadsided the pickup and landed on the opposite corner of the intersection, Frio said.

Two men in the truck suffered minor injuries and were treated at the scene. The suspects were taken to County-USC Medical Center.

Police began following the pair after seeing them speed away from a curb in front of the Lipeng Toy Store at 324 E. 4th St. downtown. The pair allegedly held up employees of the store at gunpoint and ran out with the cash register, Frio said.