For the past couple of weeks, I’d wager there has been a police pursuit either every day or every couple of days in the L.A. area. From dangerous life-threatening driving to not-fast-but-still-a-chase, it’s weird how desensitised people here are to it. Its almost entertainment. The chases continued yesterday as KTLA5 reported a woman lead police on a chase with her dog in the car.
The chase began in North Hills in the San Fernando Valley. The LAPD attempted to pull the woman over for reckless driving. Apparently, she didn’t care and continued to drive away. The chase was on. LAPD ceded control of the chase to CHP as the parade made its way onto the 405 freeway.
The woman’s car is so beat up I initially thought it was a Honda Accord. But upon closer look it appears to be a 10th generation Honda Civic, complete with temp plates still on it. One has to wonder what it went through for a late model car to look like that. Based on the crumpled nature of the Civic, it’s fair to assume that it has been in at least a few fender benders. It’s in pretty rough shape, but credit to Honda, it still seems to be chugging along without much issue.
In addition to being a rolling wreck, the Civic is also packed to the brim with junk. You can see it through the windshield. You can see the trunk lid hanging open because the back of the car is a hoarder’s paradise. It’s possible this woman had been living in her car. With so much stuff inside the car, plus a dog sitting on her as she tries to negotiate northbound traffic, this is clearly a safety issue for everyone around.
In the midst of the fairly calm police chase, you can see the woman’s pit bull hanging its head out the driver door window, pretty much oblivious to everything that is going on. It was a hot day in Los Angeles, and it looks like the dog is running on the warm side with its tongue lolling out the side of its mouth the whole time.
The police didn’t ever appear to get close enough to attempt any take down of the vehicle, and in such heavy traffic it probably wouldn’t have been a good idea anyway. The chase ends when the Civic’s rear left tire starts to shred itself. It doesn’t seem that police did anything to cause the flat tire, but after driving on the shoulder of an LA freeway for so long, it’s statistically likely that she drove over something to cause a puncture.
After pulling off to the right with the flat, the driver simply got out of the car, closed the door to keep her dog inside, and walked calmly toward the police. Without even the slightest aggression toward them, they had already pulled their weapons on the woman, but thankfully did not escalate this into a ‘police-involved shooting’.
As for the dog? Hopefully, it’ll be in good hands soon. Cops called for animal services to come take the pit bull in for evaluation.