2 Officers, Suspect Hurt During Chase

Two police officers and a suspected car thief were injured in separate crashes early Sunday during a high-speed chase that began in San Fernando.

The suspect, Alex Serrano, 22, of Sylmar, was hospitalized with serious but not life-threatening injuries, said Lt. Lee Allen of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Foothill Division.

Serrano was booked on suspicion of felony evading arrest with injuries, grand-theft auto and possession of narcotics. He will be held without bail because of a previous felony warrant for possession of narcotics.

Foothill Division Officers Kevin Hawkins, 39, and Myrna Cano, 28, were treated at an area hospital and released, said Officer Eduardo Funes, an LAPD spokesman.

The incident began about 12:20 a.m. when Hawkins, a 5 1/2-year LAPD veteran, and Cano, on the force for 1 1/2 years, saw the driver of a white Ford Mustang toss a beer can out of his window near the corner of Hubbard Avenue and Truman Street, Funes said. They checked the car’s license plate and discovered that the vehicle had been stolen.

When they tried to stop the suspect, the car sped onto the eastbound Foothill Freeway. During the chase, which covered 18 1/2 miles in about 11 minutes, Hawkins lost control of the patrol car and it hit a tree, Funes said.

The Mustang driver led police from the Foothill Freeway to the Ronald Reagan and Golden State freeways and back onto the Foothill before he crashed into the center divider and was captured, Allen said.

“He made a circle,” Allen said. “It was predominantly a freeway chase.”