Suspected Car Thief, 17, Injured in Police Chase

A 17-year-old suspected car thief led police on a chase through Pacoima and San Fernando that culminated when the van the youth was driving sailed over the Pacoima Wash, crashing on an embankment, police said Saturday.

The youth, whose name was not released, went through the van’s windshield and was taken to Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills. He was listed in critical condition with head injuries and multiple broken bones, police said.

Los Angeles police officers tried to pull over the driver on Phillippi Avenue at Terra Bella Street in Pacoima late Friday night because he was not wearing a seat belt, police said. When a computer search on the van’s license plates indicated that it had been stolen from Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, police began a pursuit, Sgt. Al Zardeneta said. With a police car tailing him and a helicopter following overheard, the van was driven through several red lights and stop signs, narrowly avoided oncoming vehicles and reached speeds of 80 m.p.h., police said.

Zardeneta said the driver reached a dead end in an industrial area at Newton and 8th streets in San Fernando. To evade police, the motorist drove over a curb, plowed through a fence and soared over the Pacoima Wash, coming to rest on the northern bank of the channel.

The youth faces charges of automobile grand theft, Zardeneta said.