A man was arrested after stealing a car in East Los Angeles with three children inside, then crashing it in Malibu during a police pursuit Friday evening, officials confirmed.
The car, a light-colored sedan, was left running with three children inside at a 7-Eleven on East Olympic Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. A stranger jumped inside the idling vehicle and took off at around 6:38 p.m.
The California Highway Patrol began pursuing the vehicle minutes later, traveling westbound on the 10 Freeway at Maple Avenue in Los Angeles, the agency confirmed.
The chase continued until roughly 7:34 p.m., when the sedan appeared to T-bone a light-colored SUV at the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Kanan Dume Road in Malibu.
Following the crash, live footage broadcast from a news helicopter showed the suspect fleeing the scene barefoot and shedding layers of clothes. The man ran through a residential area into a field before being arrested.
Four people at the scene were taken to a hospital — three by helicopter and one by ambulance, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Three were listed with minor-to-moderate injuries, but no condition was available for the fourth person.
It is unclear how seriously injured the children were, but they were conscious and breathing after the crash as paramedics removed them from the vehicle, KTLA-TV reported.
The suspect’s name was not immediately released.
