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Bandits Allegedly Steal, Crash Taxi Cab

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Jul 22, 2008 6:15 am US/Pacific

Bandits Allegedly Steal, Crash Taxi Cab

LOS ANGELES A man and a woman carried out an abortive carjacking, stole a cab driver's phone, then took an unattended taxi at a Hollywood hotel and led police on a chase that ended when they crashed into a business in the Fairfax Village area, police said.

The sequence of events that ended in the pair's arrest started before midnight when they attempted to carjack a man in the Hollywood area, said Lt. Jeff Pailet of the Los Angeles Police Department's Hollywood Station.

"They tried to steal his car," he said. "But it wouldn't start, so they got mad and beat up the victim." The victim was later treated at the scene, Pailet said.

The pair then fled, and minutes later got a ride from a taxi driver to West Sunset Boulevard and Holloway Drive, said a lieutenant at the sheriff's West Hollywood Station.

Upon reaching the destination, the driver asked for his fare, "a small amount no more than five or six dollar," but the two refused to pay, leading the driver to pick up his cell phone and call police, the lieutenant said.

The pair then took the driver's cell phone and fled the vehicle, she said. The driver, as well as other witnesses, told deputies what had happened and provided a description of the thieves, she added.

Soon after, the two allegedly found an unattended taxi cab with the keys left inside the vehicle at the Renaissance Hotel at 1755 N. Highland Ave., Pailet said.

The pair then took off in the cab, prompting authorities to issue a "crime broadcast," Pailet said.

Two police officers from the Hollywood Station saw the taxi and began following the vehicle, but the driver -- the man -- refused to yield, triggering a chase, he said.

Approximately two minutes later, at around 12:40 a.m., the man lost control of the cab, which jumped a curb and slammed into a "coffee shop-type business" near West 3rd Street and South Crescent Heights Boulevard, Pailet said.

The vehicle came to rest inside the building, according to camera crews at the scene.

"Had the business been open, people would have definitely gotten hurt, but luckily it wasn't," Pailet said.

The pair was treated at the scene for minor injuries and then taken into custody, he said. Their names were not immediately released.

The cab driver whose phone was stolen positively identified the suspects at the scene of their arrest, the sheriff's lieutenant said, adding that his cell phone was recovered and returned to him.



(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

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