Teenage burglary and auto theft suspects led sheriff's deputies on a brief pursuit through Rancho Palos Verdes that ended in a rollover crash Friday morning, trapping the occupants inside the car, officials said.
The Lexus went off the road while attempting to turn from Crenshaw Boulevard onto Seacrest Drive just before 10:30 a.m.,according to Lt. John Burcher of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Lomita Station.
As deputies stood by with weapons drawn, fire department rescue crews used tools including the Jaws of Life to extricate the five inside, all identified as juveniles. Three suffered injuries deemed critical, said Capt. Phil Schneider of the Los Angeles County Fire Department. All were hospitalized.
The individuals ranged in age from 14 to 17, and the driver was a 16-year-old girl, Burcher said. Because they are minors, he did not release their names, but did say several are students at a continuation school in the San Pedro area.
The pursuit began after deputies were dispatched to the neighborhood of a burglary reported in the 27000 block of Shorewood Road. A neighbor provided a description of the alleged getaway vehicle.
Burcher said deputies on the ground and in an air unit spotted the Lexus and also detected a signal from the vehicle's LoJack transmitter, which had been activated earlier in the morning when the Lexus was reported stolen from near Marina del Rey.
After the rescue, when deputies went through the trunk of the Lexus, they found jewelry, electronics and other items believed taken during another morning burglary, Burcher said. Two laptop computers could be seen as deputies went through the items at the scene.
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The other burglary was reported in the 27900 block of Lomo Drive. In the pocket of one of the juveniles, deputies said they found a watch reported taken during that other burglary.
In the past year, so-called knock-knock burglaries, in which thieves check to see if anyone is home before making entry, have been on the increase in many areas.
That's been a motivating factor for renewing a neighborhood watch program on Shorewood Road, said block captain and area coordinator Daisy Yim.
"We keep an eye on each other," Yim said.
The neighbor who reported the burglary, Jim Dina, said he became suspicious when he saw two young men lurking outside a house while no one was home, and then go around to the side.
"When they jumped the fence, I called the Sheriff's Department," Dina said.
Before the Lexus went off the road, it appeared to be traveling at least 60 mph, said Marcos Beltran, who was parking his own car at Del Cerro Park when the Lexus sped by. He said it slid into the curb on the outside of the corner and became airborne, crashing into a stone wall.
Crenshaw comes to a dead end a few hundred feet after that intersection, and it appeared to Beltran that the driver was not expecting this.
He also observed that pursuing deputies were a few seconds behind. Deputies said that some distance before approaching the intersection, the lead pursuing Sheriff's car had backed off, but the Lexus apparently did not slow.
