Jason Kandel

Stolen Car Suspect Crashes Into Row of Parked Cars After Pursuit

The driver was rescued from the wreckage after colliding with several cars in Monrovia

A suspected car thief crashed a car after a short chase and wound up trapped inside the mangled wreck for about 30 minutes before he was rescued, police said Thursday.

The crash happened just before 8 p.m. when Arcadia police found a stolen vehicle traveling in the 200 block of West Huntington Drive. Police tried to pull the car over, but the driver took off at high speed on streets in the San Gabriel Valley.

Officers pursued the car east on Colorado Boulevard toward the city of Monrovia, then backed off the chase. Witnesses described the driver as traveling at insane speeds before he careened into a row of cars parked on the street.

"He was driving very reckless," said witness Andrew Michaels. "He crossed lanes, hit a parked car. His car went into spin."

Michaels said a friend's car was pushed about 35 to 40 feet in the crash. A woman walking near the scene at the time of the crash was not injured, he said.

"Thank God, she got out of the way quick enough," said Michaels.

The driver was trapped in the mangled car for about 30 minutes before fire-rescue personnel cut him from the vehicle. He was hospitalized, but details about his condition were not immediately available.

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