Suspect Leaps From SUV During Chase, Is Killed by Patrol Car

A man suspected of stabbing his girlfriend before leading Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies on a car chase was killed when he jumped out of his sport utility vehicle and was struck by a pursuing patrol car on the southbound Harbor Freeway in Carson, authorities said Monday.

Israel Lopez, 38, died at the scene after the accident involving a sheriff’s cruiser about 10:50 p.m. Sunday, said Sheriff’s Capt. Ray Peavy.

“He was hellbent on wreaking havoc,” Peavy said. “He seemed to leap from the SUV because he believed he could escape. But it isn’t like the movies, where the actor walks away. The indications are he was under the influence of something.”

The incident began about 10:30 p.m. when deputies responded to a report of a stabbing at 155th Street and Tajauta Avenue in Compton. Deputies had stopped along 155th Street to check an SUV matching a description of the suspect’s vehicle when their patrol car was struck from behind by Lopez’s Cadillac Escalade, Peavy said.

Lopez’s vehicle glanced off the patrol car and ended up in a nearby yard where Lopez apparently lost consciousness, Peavy said. But as deputies tried to enter the Escalade, Lopez threw the vehicle into reverse, knocking a sergeant down and striking the deputy, who fired a single shot into the ground, Peavy said.

After striking two more patrol cars, Lopez drove onto the Gardena Freeway and then onto the southbound Harbor Freeway. As the chase continued in Carson, Lopez leaped out of his vehicle while it was traveling about 50 mph and landed in the path of the sheriff’s cruiser, Peavy said.