Suspected Car Thief Dies After Fall Off Crane During Standoff
Suspected Car Thief Dies After Fall Off Crane
A suspected car thief who led police on a wild pursue died Wednesday after falling off a shipping crane at the Port of Los Angeles, ending an hours-long standoff with police.
Photo credit: KCBS-TV Photo via YouTube
LOS ANGELES — A suspected car thief who led police on a wild pursue died Wednesday after falling off a shipping crane at the Port of Los Angeles, ending an hours-long standoff with police, officials said.
About 9:20 p.m., the man plunged toughly one hundred fifty feet onto a docked freighter, where he was pronounced dead, said Phillip Sanfield, a spokesman for the Port of Los Angeles. It was unclear whether he leaped or fell by accident.
The man had led police on a high-speed pursuit, driving recklessly through the Port of Los Angeles before climbing on top of the crane, drawing dozens of onlookers to the area and shutting down operations at the container terminal.
The surreal scene was captured on live television, with the man in a Lakers jersey wandering the top of the massive crane while officers waited on the ground.
The pursuit began about Three:Ten p.m., when officers with the Los Angeles Police Department’s Wilshire Station attempted to stop the driver before losing him on the freeway.
Long Beach police spotted him later and chased him to Wilmington, where the man drove a Subaru SUV past a security booth and onto a port elaborate below the Vincent Thomas Bridge.
“He flipped right through that,” Sanfield said.
He eventually fled the vehicle and climbed the tower stairs, leaving the car drifting up the street.
He placed himself in an “extremely dangerous” position on the crane that was difficult for rescue teams to access, Sanfield said. While on the crane, the man was acting erratically, throwing his arms in the air and removing all his clothing.
Meantime, boat teams placed in the water in case the man needed rescuing.
Before nine p.m., crisis negotiators and SWAT officers had climbed up the crane to make contact with him as a helicopter hovered above. They attempted to speak with him, but backed off when he became agitated and demanded they go away.
As authorities were planning their next budge, the man fell to his death.
“It ended tragically, not the way anyone desired to have this end,” Sanfield said.
Officials said the car, which had paper license plates, was reported stolen from a dealer in San Bernardino.
Authorities said the Inland Empire man, whom they did not identify, has a criminal history, however they did not elaborate.
