LA HABRA : Man Arrested After Stolen Car Hits Pole

A 19-year-old man was arrested Thursday after he crashed a stolen car into a power pole, police said.

Jose Alberto Lovato was traveling east on Whittier Boulevard at 3:15 a.m. when he lost control of the car at the intersection of Whittier and Fonda Street just east of Harbor Boulevard, Sgt. Matt Stoner said.

Lovato was reportedly driving faster than 100 m.p.h.

Witnesses who found Lovato at the accident site said he admitted the car was stolen, police said. Witnesses told police that after hearing sirens, Lovato got out of the wrecked car and fled. He was found by police about 15 minutes later hiding in a back yard about a block away, Stoner said.

Police said the car, which was “completely totaled,” had not been reported stolen at the time of the accident. The owner of the car, which had been stolen from a home in Downey, didn’t realize the car was missing until notified by Downey police Thursday morning.

Lovato, of Pico Rivera, was arrested and taken to the jail ward of Western Medical Center-Anaheim where he is listed in stable condition with a punctured lung and internal injuries.

Charges against Lovato include possession of stolen property. His bail has been set at $10,000