A 25-year-old man was charged Monday with leading police in a pursuit while driving a stolen hearse, the Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced.
James Juarez faces one felony count each of fleeing a pursuing peace officer’s motor vehicle while driving recklessly, and driving or taking a vehicle without consent.
Arraignment for case BA485684 was scheduled this week in Department 30 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center.
The 2017 Lincoln Navigator reportedly still had a deceased person inside it when it was taken from in front of a church in Pasadena on Feb. 26, prosecutors said. The next day, police spotted the vehicle allegedly driven by Juarez, who then led law enforcement on a pursuit which ended with a crash on the 110 Freeway, prosecutors added.
If convicted as charged, the defendant faces a possible maximum sentence of more than three years in state prison.
The case remains under investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department, Newton Division.
