Driver in stolen van surrenders after chase through Orange County

ByABC7.com staff KABC logo
Monday, October 12, 2020
Driver in stolen van surrenders after OC chase
The driver of a stolen van surrendered after an hour-long chase over freeways and surface streets in Orange County on Monday.

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. (KABC) -- Authorities chased a suspect in a possibly stolen van over freeways and surface streets in the Orange County area Monday afternoon.

The pursuit started around 2:40 p.m. in the Garden Grove area. The driver in a white van, believed to be stolen, fled police over the 22 Freeway and later onto the 405 heading northbound past John Wayne Airport.

At one point it appeared the driver threw a gun out the window of the vehicle. Also a passenger jumped out of the vehicle and ran away on foot.

A police chase through Orange County ended in Garden Grove - but the driver forgot to tell the van, which kept rolling down the street after he exited with his hands up.

The driver exited surface streets in the Costa Mesa area and continued fleeing, mostly obeying speed limits and traffic lights.

The chase ended about an hour after it began when the driver came to a stop in a residential neighborhood near Volkwood Street and Heather Avenue in Garden Grove.

He exited the vehicle with his hands up, but apparently forget to put it in park.

The van began slowly rolling down the street until it crashed into some trash cans and a fence in front of a home. Police took the driver into custody and searched the van, finding no one else.