Carjacking suspect arrested following high-speed 4-county chase

A carjacking suspect who allegedly fired shots at pursuing officers was arrested in Harbor City Friday following a high-speed chase that began in Chino and also went through Riverside and Orange counties.

The chase of the black pickup truck ended after the suspect sideswiped a vehicle and struck a pole near Western Avenue and 252nd Street. He then fled the pickup and was arrested by at least six law enforcement officers after a brief foot pursuit. There was no immediate information about the suspect’s condition.

The chase around 2:23 p.m. in Chino where officers were responding to calls of a reckless driver, ABC7 reported, citing information from the Chino Police Department. The suspect later crashed into another vehicle but refused to stop, Chino police told ABC7.

The suspect then pulled inside a Shell gas station at 1550 E. Ontario St. in Corona and carjacked a pickup truck.

The chase moved through the Anaheim area in Orange County, then into the Long Beach area in Los Angeles County.

The suspect drove on freeways and streets, sometimes on the wrong side. At one point he encountered a group of school children in a crosswalk in the Long Beach area — where the driver stopped to let the children cross safely before resuming his flight from authorities.

At around 3:30 p.m., the suspect fired the first of multiple bursts of gunshots at pursuing authorities on the Riverside (91) Freeway just before the Costa Mesa (55) Freeway. Reports of a second round of fire shot at authorities occurred around 3:50 p.m. on Bellflower Boulevard.

The suspect appeared to be armed with a high-caliber, semiautomatic weapon.

An apparent bystander was taken into custody where the carjacking suspect was arrested as police were cordoning off the area. It was unclear why that man was arrested.

There were no reported injuries.