Police chase: U-Haul truck driver arrested in Anaheim

ANAHEIM, Calif. (KABC) -- The driver of a stolen U-Haul rental truck was arrested after leading police on a chase from Newport Beach to Anaheim Tuesday night.

The chase began around 6:44 p.m. in Newport Beach on the peninsula after the truck failed to yield to a police officer.

About 10 minutes after the pursuit began, it had reached the area of the 55 and 405 freeways. After further travel, the truck then exited onto surface streets at Katella and Manchester avenues near Disneyland.

At 7:18 p.m. a police cruiser tried to execute a PIT maneuver on the truck but was unsuccessful. The truck continued fleeing and cut across several parking lots.

"They flew over the dip," witness Charlie Ward said. "They were doing at least 50 miles an hour, and I goes, 'God, I hope they don't hit nobody in that parking lot.'"

At 7:25 p.m. a police unit was successful in turning the truck around with a PIT maneuver. Five other police cars quickly surrounded the truck to box it in in front of a restaurant near Ball Road and Magnolia Avenue in Anaheim.

The suspect was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon on an officer for backing into an Anaheim police patrol car, damaging it. The officer was not injured.

The suspect was also charged with evasion and possession of a stolen vehicle. The U-Haul truck had Arizona plates.