LOCAL : 4 Suspects Injured in Crash
Four suspected car thieves--who crashed one stolen vehicle and then attempted to escape in another--were seriously injured today when the second vehicle collided head-on with a semi-trailer truck, Los Angeles police said.
The first stolen car was carrying six people when it overturned shortly before 3:30 a.m. in front of a home on Devonshire Street near Woodman Avenue in Mission Hills. Police were investigating the possibility that the car ended up on the lawn as a result of a hit-and-run collision.
Neighborhood residents wakened by the crash saw the car’s six occupants climb out and attempt to run away. The residents chased and caught two of the suspects, Officer Clarence Dean said.
The remaining four ran to the intersection of Sepulveda Boulevard and Devonshire Street, where they commandeered a Toyota pickup truck and robbed its driver, police said.
The four, two in front and two riding in the bed, drove west to Chatsworth. Police said the pickup was traveling at a high speed in the 20500 block of Nordhoff Street when it crashed head-on into an eastbound 18-wheel truck.
The front passengers suffered broken legs and internal injuries and the two riding in the back also were seriously injured, police said. The driver of the semi-trailer truck was not hurt.
The injured, who were not immediately identified, were taken to Northridge Hospital Medical Center and West Park Hospital.
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