Chase Suspect May Have Caused Chatsworth Crash On Purpose: LAPD

CHATSWORTH — A Domestic violence suspect, who led police on a chase through Chatsworth Monday morning causing a dramatic crash, may have caused the crash on purpose, police said.

The suspect was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence and felony evasion and hit and run, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. If investogators determine he rammed an innocent driver on purpose, causing the vehicle to roll over and sending the driver to the hospital, he could be facing serious new charges, too.

Officers responded to a call of a burglary in-progress at 5:55 a.m. in the 10900 block of Seguro Drive, said Officers Drake Madison, Los Angeles Police Department spokesman.

“It looks like the suspect was an ex-boyfriend, and, somehow, that call ended up culminating in a burglary,” Madison said.

When officers arrived, he fled, and “he caused a traffic collision that sent another person to the hospital,” added Madison.

The suspect didn’t get more than a mile before his sedan crashed into a black vehicle, causing it to flip and sending a man in his 30s to the hospital, Madison said.

“He rolled over, got hit pretty hard, took out a tree,” Valley traffic division Officer Brett Cook told CBS Los Angeles. “The fact that he was able to walk way is pretty amazing...In pursuit, a lot of it is just incidental. But in this case, it looks like it could have he was actually trying to hit that car.”

The driver kept going, but the chase lasted only a few more minutes when he drove into a dead-end at Tulsa Street and Tulsa Lane, police said.

The driver remains in custody while detectives review dashcam footage to determine if the crash was intentional, police said.