Beating Suspect Seized Near College After Street Chase : Van Nuys: South-Central L.A. man faces charges in connection with theft of an Encino woman’s van.

A man who police say beat an Encino woman, then pushed her out of her van and ran over her, was arrested Tuesday morning near Valley College after a nearly hourlong chase through Valley streets.

Hag Mahmoud Tahir, 34, of South-Central Los Angeles, will face charges ranging from robbery to assault for his actions Tuesday morning, according to police.

The incident began at around 8 a.m. when Tahir allegedly drove his car in front of a van driven by an Encino woman, cutting her off, said LAPD Detective Mel Arnold. Tahir then ran screaming to the van and started pounding on the windows, asking to be let in. The 44-year-old woman opened the door, Tahir climbed in, and ordered her to drive, Arnold said. Tahir also struck the woman, Arnold said.

After driving a few blocks, the woman was pushed out of the van onto Sepulveda Boulevard, according to two eyewitnesses, John Hanna and Rick Rahimzadeh of Express Plumbing in Reseda.

They were driving south on Sepulveda Boulevard when they saw the van weaving toward them, a man and woman fighting at the wheel.

Then “the (driver’s) door popped open,” said Rahimzadeh, 32. “Her feet were hanging out first. She was screaming and kicking and the horn was beeping.”

Hanna jumped out to help the woman while Rahimzadeh followed the van and called 911 on his cellular phone.

The victim was run over by the van, and taken to the hospital. She was found to have suffered “minor injuries,” according to Arnold.

Alerted by the call, police converged on the van as it crossed Sepulveda and Burbank boulevards. A chase at moderate speeds followed.

That’s standard procedure, said Sgt. Joseph Brazas. “It worked just like it was supposed to. He stopped at intersections,” said Brazas.

About 9 a.m. Tahir surrendered, getting out of the van at Burbank Boulevard and Fulton Avenue.