LAPD: 'Maniac' Shot After Wild Car Chase

Suspect seen carjacking woman, veering through oncoming cars
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 10, 2015 5:04 AM CST

A suspect was shot several times and arrested last night after a car chase that was wild even by Los Angeles standards. Police say that after the armed man they describe as a "maniac" was spotted driving a suspected stolen car east of downtown, he sped through traffic, sometimes on the wrong side of the road, and hit at least four other cars as he was pursued through southeast Los Angeles County, the AP reports. With the chase being broadcast live on TV, the suspect crashed the first vehicle and carjacked another before speeding off. After becoming trapped in traffic, cameras captured the man fleeing on foot and attempting to hijack two more vehicles before he was shot by officers pursuing him, reports the Independent.

"This individual acted with a complete disregard for other people's lives," a police spokesman tells the Los Angeles Times. "He callously put innocent people's lives in danger, even after the police backed off the pursuit and tracked with the helicopter. Thank God no one was killed by this maniac." Another police spokesman says the suspect is in the hospital with multiple gunshot wounds. The 22-year-old woman who was carjacked says she's thankful her children weren't in the car. "He just came up to me and pointed the gun at me and told me to get out [of] my car. I unbuckled ... and opened the door and ran out," she tells CBS 2. "It was horrible." Police say that if the suspect survives, he'll be charged with multiple felonies. (More car chase stories.)

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