Two separate dramatic chases wind through San Gabriel Valley
WEST COVINA, Calif. (KABC) -- Two suspects fled recklessly from authorities at high speeds in two separate chases that developed in the same area of the San Gabriel Valley Tuesday night.
The first chase involved a domestic violence suspect who fled from West Covina police for more than an hour. After he crashed and was boxed in, a tense barricade situation developed as he refused to surrender.
Even as that barricade was continuing, a second chase began unfolding only blocks away in West Covina.
Domestic violence suspect chase
The first chase started in the West Covina area just before 10 p.m. A suspect wanted for domestic violence and possibly rape fled at high speeds over the 10 Freeway, onto the southbound 710 and 105 and briefly drove around surface streets in Inglewood.
Eventually the Scion got back on the 105 Freeway heading eastbound.
At least six West Covina police SUVs followed the suspect closely at high speeds hitting close to 100 mph on the freeway at times. It appears they did not request CHP assistance, though the agency was standing by.
Police say the suspect was wanted for domestic violence and possibly rape.
By 11 p.m. more than an hour after the chase started, a police cruiser slammed into the back of the Scion in a PIT maneuver that sent it spinning over a median. The front right rim went spinning and the tire went flat as the car slammed into a light pole.
It first seemed as if that would end the chase, but the vehicle backed off from the pole and took off again.
The driver stopped a short time later and again it seemed to be over, as officers approached with weapons drawn.
Once again the car took off and drove fast even as sparks shot up as the bare wheel scraped along the ground.
Eventually the vehicle slammed into the back of a parked car in West Covina and a police SUV boxed it in on the street.
But again the suspect refused to give up, gunning his engine and making the damaged wheel spin in place, sending up sparks and a cloud of smoke.
At one point as he was trapped, it appeared the suspect threw an object, possibly a wrench, out of the vehicle.
The suspect was finally taken into custody after a more than 3-hour standoff with police.
Second police chase starts in West Covina
As the barricade was continuing, a second police pursuit involving sheriff's deputies chasing a stolen vehicle developed only a short distance away.
That stolen car drove fast through neighborhoods of the east San Gabriel Valley. At one point it briefly stopped and at least two passengers jumped out and then the vehicle kept going.
The stolen car ran red lights and drove at fast speeds on surface streets with at least one sheriff's unit close behind.
The driver and anyone else in the car appeared to have evaded getting captured after authorities decided to cancel the chase.
WATCH: Suspect in stolen car speeds through San Gabriel Valley during chase
