Dramatic ending: Carjacking suspect taken down by police K-9 after 2-hour SoCal chase

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A police K-9 took down a carjacking suspect as he appeared to be surrendering at the end of a two-hour, slow-speed chase from Fontana to Valencia Thursday night.

The chase started around 7:18 p.m. with a report of a carjacking at gunpoint at a gas station in Fontana. A witness shared a video showing a police officer reviewing surveillance footage of the carjacking. In the video, a man in a black shirt is confronted by a man in a gray hoodie. That's the man the witness says carjacked the truck and took off.

Police found the vehicle, a red Toyota Tacoma pickup, about five minutes later. The driver refused to pull over.

He was believed to be still armed as he led multiple ground units on the 10 Freeway through the San Gabriel Valley, onto the 101 past downtown Los Angeles and into the San Fernando Valley.

Multiple police units stayed behind him at a close distance as he transitioned onto the 405 Freeway and then the 5 heading toward the Newhall Pass.

He stayed well under the speed limit, at times slowing to just 20-30 mph on freeways that were cleared of traffic by CHP units.

He avoided several spike strip attempts, but finally ran over one in the Santa Clarita area. The truck continued at normal speeds for a few minutes then slowed down as the front tire on the driver's side began deflating.

At that point - about two hours after the chase started - the driver slowed down on the 5 freeway near Magic Mountain Parkway and then exited the vehicle. He appeared to be surrendering as he stood on the freeway. He was initially complying with commands and had his hands up with his back toward the officers.

But at one point he turned forward to face them - and in that moment, the dog was deployed, clamping onto his leg as several officers instantly moved in to subdue and tackle the suspect. The dog was quickly withdrawn.

An ambulance was called to treat him for the dog bite and possibly other minor injuries.

Police told Eyewitness News they did not initially find a weapon at the scene when the chase ended but they are continuing to investigate.