HUNTINGTON BEACH : Driver Hurt in Crash During Police Chase
A Garden Grove man was seriously injured Sunday when he crashed a pickup truck he had allegedly stolen into another vehicle during an early-morning police chase through Huntington Beach and Westminster.
Tung Minh Hoang, 19, suffered major head and internal injuries when the pickup hit the second vehicle and then smashed into a utility pole between Trask Avenue and Garden Grove Boulevard in Westminster, Huntington Beach Police Lt. John Arnold said.
Hoang was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange, where he is in critical condition.
He faces charges of grand theft, evading police and reckless driving, Arnold said.
Gilbert Lind, 52, of Los Angeles, who was driving the other vehicle, was not injured, police said.
The chase began at 4:48 a.m. when Hoang was seen driving north on Golden West Street in Huntington Beach, Arnold said.
An unidentified Huntington Beach officer, who suspected the pickup was stolen, attempted to pull the truck over, but Hoang speeded up, authorities said.
The truck sped through several red traffic lights in Westminster, police said.
The pickup was reported stolen from a residence in Huntington Beach.
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