A driver leaped from a moving station wagon and stumbled, tripped over a curb and nearly stumbled into the side of a law enforcement vehicle Wednesday at the chaotic end of a pursuit southeast of downtown Los Angeles.
The driver has been identified as 40-year-old Carlos Alberto Luque, of Baldwin Park.
After colliding with a California Highway Patrol officer's SUV on a Whittier street, he jumped out of the stolen Honda from the passenger-side window, then tripped over a curb and face-planted in front of a home. He sprinted in a loop across the residence's lawn and back into the street before side-stepping another patrol vehicle.
Officers quickly caught up with Luque and took him into custody near Saragosa Street and Pioneer Boulevard.
He appeared to have thrown something from the car during the chase, which went through El Monte and continued along the 605 Freeway before ending in Whittier.
Luque is being booked for grand theft auto, felony evading, possession of stolen property and possession of narcotics, the El Monte Police Department said.
