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Apr 26, 2007 7:18 pm US/Pacific
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Police Nab Half-Naked Suspect After Chase Downtown
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ―
Police took an unidentified car theft suspect into custody Thursday afternoon after he led cops on a chase through downtown streets for nearly two hours.
The driver was seen often tossing various items out of the vehicle. The items were believed to be clothing and CDs.
The chase began a little after 3 pm Thursday.
Through the chase, the suspect led police mostly on surface streets but at one point, on his rims, he led police on the 10 freeway.
Police tried the PITT manuever at least six times but were unable to stop the suspect's vehicle until the chase went on nearly two hours.
On Central Ave., police tried another PITT and the suspect's rear bumper partially came off.
At times during the chase, the suspect was being followed by as many as 15-20 squad cars.
The suspect also had several near misses with cars in his and opposing lanes.
An hour after the pursuit began, Gary Lineberry overhead in Sky 9, reported that the police were considering ending the pursuit "and all surveillance" for an undisclosed reason. They did give the suspect a lot of leeway during the chase that went fast, slow and every permutation in between.
At the conclusion of the chase, the suspect got out of the vehicle (wearing either black underwear or shorts) and he jumped to the ground when a dozen officers wrestled with him on the ground to get him into custody. At one juncture, the suspect was apparently hog tied to get him into an officer's vehicle.
At other times throughout the chase, the unidentified suspect, pumped his hand through the driver's side window. His hand also seemed to be wrapped in a shirt or other article of clothing.
Anchor Harold Greene said, "This is one of the stranger chases we have seen...in a long time."
And he added of the strange pursuit: "This is one for the record books."
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)