Stunning video captured the moment California Highway Patrol officers ended a lengthy Sunday night chase with a slick driving maneuver that spun the fleeing car around — as sparks shot out from the suspect’s wheel wells when the tires disintegrated from the stress.
In the spine-tingling footage, a white, four-door sedan hurtles down the 105 Freeway as a shower of sparks sprays from beneath the vehicle, according to video posted by ABC 7.
The cruiser pulls up close, then bumps the car’s back end as the officer executes what’s known as a PIT maneuver — a driving tactic that forces a fleeing car to turn quickly and strips the driver of his control.
Two men and a woman got out after the daring action, and were quickly taken into custody, ABC said.
The chase — which at that point had lasted more than two hours and involved two different cars — began just after 8 p.m. when the LAPD began shadowing a possibly stolen black sedan that had been circling neighborhoods in southern Los Angeles for about an hour, according to ABC 7.
Cops searched the plates and found it had likely been stolen, the station said.
But the driver kept themselves under the speed limit as it passed through several LA neighborhoods — and although the car blew a few red lights, it otherwise didn’t drive recklessly.
Five police SUVs trailed closely behind, but didn’t try to end the chase because they feared the suspects might be armed.
After more than an hour, the black car pulled into a commercial parking lot and the driver ran out, letting the car roll as he hopped into a waiting white sedan that took off at much higher speeds, ABC said.
The car careened at about 75 mph towards the 101 Freeway near downtown Los Angeles — and once it hit the highways, it reportedly took off at more than 100 mph.
The driver fled south on the 710 freeway before continuing onto the 110 north and looping back to the same southeast LA streets from which it had fled earlier.
By that point, the California Highway Patrol had joined the chase, which included at least four attempts to spike-strip the tires.
The car seemed to crash at one point, and a person got out and took off on foot.
The LAPD said the original driver of the black Lexus wasn’t in the white vehicle when it was finally disabled.
But that person was taking into custody separately, officials added.
