Man, Woman Arrested Following Car Chase that Crash in La Puente

LA PUENTE, CA- A man and woman in a vehicle that was reported to have been carjacked at a West Covina shopping mall led police on a chase Friday night that ended with a crash in La Puente and both of them under arrest.

The woman who reported the supposed carjacking just before 7 p.m. was actually driving the white 2015 Toyota Corolla, which was registered in her name and address in Victorville, according to West Covina Police Department Lt. Travis Tibbetts.

An officer who heard a radio dispatch spotted the vehicle and tried to pull it over, but the suspect did not yield and a short chase ensued, Tibbetts said.

It ended when the Toyota collided with another vehicle in the area of Willow Avenue and Amar Road, Tibbetts said.

A woman and 8-year-old child were injured in the crash. Both were in critical condition when taken to County-USC Medical Center, but are expected to be OK, Tibbetts said.

The woman driving the Toyota was taken into custody and though the man who was a passenger in the car tried to flee, but he was soon apprehended with the help of a K-9 unit, Tibbetts said.

Both suspects were taken to a hospital for treatment of unspecified crash injuries. The man also had been bitten by a police dog, Tibbetts said.

Further investigation revealed that the suspects had been involved in an altercation at the mall before the carjacking report, Tibbetts said.

Police were looking into the possibility that the woman reported the carjacking as some kind of ruse, Tibbetts said.

--City News Service, photo via Shutterstock