A suspected drunk driver led authorities on a car chase Thursday through a Los Angeles suburb before ending up in a nearly five-hour standoff with authorities.
Deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department were trying to negotiate with the driver of a pickup truck. They deployed pepper balls in the vicinity of the truck in an attempt to get the driver out, FOX Los Angeles reported.
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A DUI suspect sticks his head out the window of a pickup truck during a police chase in Compton, California. (KTTV)
Footage of the chase showed the driver appearing to inhale helium from a balloon during the pursuit in Compton. At one point, he drove across a divider and struck a sheriff’s vehicle.
Video footage shows a suspected DUI driver evading authorities in a Los Angeles suburb Thursday. (KTTV)
He was able to escape attempted PIT maneuvers. The chase ended around 1 p.m. once the driver hit a dead-end and became trapped by authorities.
A DUI suspect is seen inhaling possibly helium from a balloon inside a truck during a police pursuit near Los Angeles on Thursday. (KTTV)
He allegedly tried backing up into sheriff’s vehicles. Deputies tossed a gas container into the bed of the truck but the standoff continued. Deputies eventually got him to come out of the vehicle when they used tear gas.
Authorities said the driver would face charges of driving under the influence as well as assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer, the news report said. The suspect is from Utah and was in Los Angeles visiting family.
A woman who said she was the unidentified suspect’s aunt told the news outlet he was upset about the recent passing of his grandfather.
