New details are emerging in a chaotic and deadly high-speed pursuit out of Orange County that ended in a crash and a hail of police gunfire last week.
The April 16th incident, according to a news release from the Anaheim Police Department, began just before 8 p.m. when officers responded to the Kona Motel, at 331 N. Brookhurst Street, on reports of a shooting.
Officials said officers located a man suffering from a gunshot wound at the location and quickly broadcast a description of the vehicle, a white Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck, that the suspect was last seen in, fleeing the motel southbound on Brookhurst Street.
Additional officers spotted the pickup truck near Brookhurst Street and Lincoln Avenue and when the suspect refused to stop for police, a pursuit of the driver and a passenger in the vehicle was initiated.
“Anaheim Police officers pursued the vehicle for approximately 45 minutes on the freeway and city streets,” the release stated. “Several PIT maneuvers were attempted before the vehicle was disabled at the 1400 block of W. Memory Lane in the City of Santa Ana.”
Sky5 captured the moment when one officer’s patrol vehicle made contact with the pickup truck, spinning it into a guardrail on the bridge, bouncing in the opposite direction and colliding with the bridge’s center divider, which can be viewed in the above video player.
Officers quickly surrounded the truck with their patrol vehicles and opened fire on the suspect as smoke poured out from beneath the pickup.
“The driver of the suspect vehicle was fatally wounded and pronounced deceased at the scene by Orange County Fire Authority personnel,” officials said. “A total of eight Anaheim Police officers fired their weapons during this incident.”
Miraculously, the adult male passenger survived the incident unharmed.
He was questioned at the station and released several hours later. No criminal charges are being pursued against the man at this time, police said.
The male shooting victim at the Kona Motel was rushed to the hospital where he was listed in stable condition. So far, police have not released a motive for that shooting and said it remains under investigation.
Officials said the identity of the approximately 50-year-old deceased suspect was being withheld pending confirmation by the Orange County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office.
Anyone with information about this ongoing investigation is urged to contact the Orange County Crime Stoppers Hotline at 855-TIP-OCCS.
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