Man Held on Suspicion of Attempted Murder After Chase

An alleged car thief was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder Saturday after he led sheriff’s deputies on a chase that ended when he tried to run down two deputies and slammed into their patrol car, authorities said.

Deputies first tried to stop the man--who authorities have not yet identified--because he was driving a stolen Mustang south on the Golden State Freeway in Santa Clarita about 4:45 p.m., Sgt. Rick Lichten of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.

The man, in his late 20s, ignored the deputies and drove east on Magic Mountain Parkway, Lichten said. Three sheriff’s vehicles joined the pursuit as the man headed north on The Old Road.

The driver stopped the car at a guard shack in front of an industrial building on Rye Canyon Road, where deputies ordered him out of the vehicle. But the man instead tried to run over two deputies who were on foot, Lichten said.

Lichten said other deputies fired on the man as he drove toward the deputies--who jumped out of the way--and crashed into a sheriff’s car.

The driver was taken to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, where he was treated for a superficial head wound, Lichten said. The man was not shot and no deputies were injured, he said.