WOODLAND HILLS : Man Gets 18 Months for Evading Police

A Woodland Hills man was sentenced to 18 months in jail Thursday for leading police on a car chase from Canoga Park to Hollywood in May.

A Van Nuys Municipal Court judge ordered Ion Rada, 31, to immediately begin serving his term--the maximum permissible for the offenses--after a jury found him guilty of evading a police officer and resisting arrest May 15.

About 4 a.m. that day, Rada kicked in the front door of a Canoga Park apartment and attacked his former girlfriend’s parents and another family member.

All three suffered cuts and bruises before one of them called police and Rada fled, according to Deputy City Atty. Howard Fuchs, who handled the case.

After investigating, police left the apartment but came back minutes later to find that Rada had returned.

He drove away in a gold Cadillac, leading police on a chase along surface streets and on the Ventura Freeway.

Rada obeyed speed limits and other traffic rules during the first part of the chase but tried to ram police squad cars twice near the end of the spree, Fuchs said.

Police finally cornered Rada about 5:50 a.m. in the parking lot of the CBS building in Hollywood.

Rada surrendered after a brief struggle, during which police used pepper spray to subdue him.

He refused to undergo a blood-alcohol test and remained in jail until Thursday’s hearing.