A search was underway Sunday in the Koreatown area of Los Angeles after a car thief fired shots at pursuing police officers and abandoned the vehicle, authorities said.
The pursuit began at 8:26 p.m. on the Hollywood (101) Freeway at Silver Lake Boulevard when officers observed the vehicle reported stolen and tried to get the driver to pull over, a dispatcher in the Los Angeles Police Department Operations Center said.
The car thief fired a handgun at officers, the dispatcher said. Bullets struck a patrol car but no one was injured, police said.
The vehicle was abandoned at Wilshire Boulevard and Berendo Street, according to LAPD spokesman Josh Rubenstein. A perimeter was established with Wilshire on the north, Seventh Street on the south, Berendo on the east and Catalina Street on the west, he said.
Residents in the area were urged to shelter in place, making sure doors and windows were locked, Rubenstein said. A SWAT team and K-9s were involved in the search.
The car thief was described as male, 5 feet 8 to 5 feet 10 inches tall,
wearing a gray sweater, he said.
