Driver in wild L.A. County chase arrested again — this time on a motorcycle
The Ford Mustang driver and burglary suspect who shocked Los Angeles County with an epic car chase that featured spinning doughnuts on Hollywood Boulevard and the throwing of fast food at a TMZ tour bus last month has been arrested again.
This time, Herschel Reynolds stands accused of hitting a man with his Suzuki GSXR motorcycle in Westwood and speeding off. He’s also accused of trying to grab the man’s cellphone after the man called 911.
UCLA police booked Reynolds on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon Saturday, roughly two weeks after they first issued an alert to be on the lookout for the 20-year-old.
Unlike the rented convertible that Reynolds was driving in his April 7 pursuit, UCLA police said the former tactical vehicle driver for the Marines was riding a white 2005 or 2006 motorcycle with red paper plates from Del Amo Motorsports.
Reynolds was reportedly riding east on Strathmore Drive, near Charles E. Young Drive West, on April 16, when his motorcycle struck the rear bumper of an SUV, UCLA police said.
The driver got out of the SUV and called 911, according to police.
Reynolds responded by first trying to grab the man’s phone and then by striking the him with his motorcycle and knocking him to the ground, police said.
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The motorcyclist rode away before police could talk to him.
But two weeks later, police were able to identify the motorcyclist as the same man seen driving around Los Angeles County in the televised chase.
At the time of the hit and run, Reynolds was free on bail in connection with the early April chase.
Reynolds and a friend, Isaiah Dewayne Young, 19, were believed to have burglarized a home in Cerritos when they led police and news choppers on the wild chase to Hollywood, where they nearly struck a TMZ tour bus on rain-slicked streets. Moments after that near collision, Young appeared to toss a fast food bag at the tour bus.
The pursuit ultimately ended in a South L.A. neighborhood, where a crowd of spectators welcomed the pair with celebratory hugs, selfies and high-fives. Reynolds and Young waited there for deputies, who took the men into custody.
In the end, authorities said the pair had accumulated a list of charges, including two counts of hit-and-run driving resulting in property damage and one count each of first-degree residential burglary and fleeing a pursuing peace officer’s motor vehicle while driving recklessly.
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Reynolds had been scheduled to appear in court on May 10 for those charges. If he is convicted, he faces up to six years and eight months in prison.
In his latest arrest, prosecutors on Tuesday charged Reynolds with assault with a deadly weapon and hit-and-run causing injuries.
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