Authorities pursue suspected DUI driver in L.A. County

Officers pursued a suspected DUI driver for nearly two hours in Los Angeles County Friday night.

The driver was the only occupant of the vehicle and was reportedly wanted for a possible DUI, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The pursuit began in the Monterey Park area before getting onto the 10 Freeway westbound. The suspect vehicle — a black sedan — was being pursued by the Monterey Park Police Department before the CHP was called in to take over.

Throughout the pursuit, the suspect would continually slow down, appearing to perhaps surrender, but would then speed up and continue driving away from officers.

The suspect drove at slow speeds throughout most of the pursuit, especially while traveling on surface streets in Irwindale and then Duarte.

The pursuit made its way into an industrial area of Irwindale before the suspect headed onto the 605 Freeway northbound, reaching speeds of up to 90 miles per hour with a small number of vehicles nearby.

The suspect then returned to surface streets in Duarte. The driver seemed agitated at multiple points during the pursuit, opening the window and appearing to yell at officers at various points.

CHP tried to throw down a spike strip at an intersection, but the officer’s attempt didn’t work, allowing the driver to get away without any damage to the vehicle.

Officers continued to maintain a slow approach behind the suspect. CHP did not attempt a pit maneuver to end the chase, instead choosing to keep a safe distance from the driver.

The driver continued traveling on surface streets and alleyways in Duarte with officers close on the suspect’s tail.

The pursuit went on for more than an hour and eventually ended up in Azusa. After going slowly, the suspect got onto the 210 Freeway westbound and picked up speed before getting on the 605 southbound, and from there, onto the Arrow Highway in Irwindale.

Irwindale Police came to assist CHP officers with another spike strip, but it could not be laid down in time to impact the driver.

The suspect then pulled a U-turn where it appeared officers could have attempted a pit maneuver, but didn’t, allowing the driver to get back onto the 605 freeway and then the 210 freeway going east and picking up speeds to more than 80 miles per hour.

After continuing in Duarte, officers appeared to shoot something at the suspect’s vehicle, shattering the rear driver’s side window. The suspect eventually came to a full stop and after opening the door and yelling at officers, finally surrendered to CHP.