MALIBU, CA – A dangerous police chase in Malibu ended in a violent multi-vehicle crash that sent three children under the age of 10 and two adults to the hospital.
The incident began shortly before 7 p.m., when a suspect stole a vehicle in East Los Angeles with three children inside. Officers with the California Highway Patrol (CHP) initiated the pursuit, which continued through Santa Monica before heading onto the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) toward Malibu.
Because of the children inside the vehicle, CHP ruled out a PIT maneuver. Instead, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deployed a spike strip, prompting the suspect to speed up and drive erratically. At approximately 7:35 p.m., the suspect ran a red light at Kanan Dume Road, crashing into a vehicle making a turn and triggering a major collision.
Witnesses described the scene as “terrifying.” Erica Trujillo, one of the drivers involved, said she braced for impact as she watched the suspect flee the crash site on foot.
Officers quickly rescued the three children, including one in a car seat. All were conscious and transported to the hospital, along with an older woman and her passenger who had been struck in the crash.
The suspect attempted to escape through fields and backyards, even trying to carjack another vehicle, before being arrested shirtless and shoeless by sheriff’s deputies in a Malibu neighborhood around 7:50 p.m.
Authorities have not yet released details about the victims’ conditions or the suspect’s identity.
