Police chase ends with a crash and a small brush fire on 5 Freeway in Santa Clarita
Two cars caught on fire after a police pursuit ended in a crash on the 5 Freeway in Santa Clarita on Tuesday afternoon, according to authorities.
Police officers tried to pull over a white vehicle near Bakersfield and the pursuit made its way south into Los Angeles County, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Alec Pereyda.
Details are unclear, but the pursuit ended when the suspect crashed on the shoulder of the 5 Freeway near Lyons Avenue in Santa Clarita.
Shortly after, a fire broke out in the dry brush on the shoulder of the freeway, according to Pereyda.
Los Angeles County firefighters were called to the scene around 12:45 p.m. and stopped the spread of the fire after it had burned about a quarter of an acre. One person was transported to a hospital by ambulance, said Esteban Benitez, a spokesperson for the L.A. County Fire Department. It was unclear if the injured person was the driver of the fleeing car.
Helicopter video footage from news station KTTV showed firefighters spraying water over two vehicles that were on fire. Pereyda said it’s unclear how a second vehicle became involved in the crash.
This is a developing story.
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