Two people were arrested after a high-speed police chase through the Sunset Park neighborhood on the afternoon of Friday, September 21. The chase involved a collision at Ocean Park Boulevard and Bundy Drive involving two other cars and a motorcycle, in which no one was seriously injured, and the suspects’ flight on foot after they abandoned their car at a gas station at Bundy and National Boulevard.
Just after noon on September 21, officers responded to a call from a citizen regarding a suspicious vehicle in the 1400 block of Ashland Avenue, stating that the car had repeatedly pulled to the curb and the two occupants had approached houses and rung doorbells. Particularly in view of the unusual number of burglaries in the Sunset Park area, police responded and located the red compact passenger car and attempted a traffic stop.
“The car fled at a high rate of speed eastbound on Ocean Park Boulevard,” said SMPD spokesman Lt. Alex Padilla. When it reached Bundy, it crashed into two other cars and a motorcycle, and it continued southbound on Bundy. The two occupants abandoned the car at the Union 76 gas station on the northeast corner of Bundy and National and fled on foot, by which time other SMPD officers had joined in the chase.
Paramedics responded to the scene of the accident. No one was seriously injured, but the motorcycle driver was taken to a local hospital as a precaution and later released, said Padilla.
About a half hour after the car was abandoned, two African American males, one adult and one juvenile, were arrested and booked for felony evading and felony hit and run.
Police encourage anyone with additional information to call the Santa Monica Police Department Watch Commander at 310.458.8427 (24 hours) or Detectives at 310.458.8451 (M-F 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.). Anyone wishing to remain anonymous may call the WeTip hotline at 800.78.CRIME (72463).
