A man took his former girlfriend on a wild ride into South Los Angeles with a sheriff’s deputy in pursuit until the suspect jumped from the moving vehicle and gave up, authorities said today.
The incident started about 11 p.m. Sunday near Western Avenue and Imperial Highway, said Lt. J. Wargo of Sheriff’s Transit Services.
The woman had loaned her car to her former boyfriend earlier in the day but he refused to give it back, Wargo said. She jumped into the front passenger seat as he tried to drive away, and a crash ensued, damaging the passenger door so it could not be closed.
“The door was lodged partially open and she was part in and part out screaming for help,” the lieutenant said.
A Transit Services deputy heard the screams and pursued the car to Western Avenue and 103rd Street, where the suspect slowed down enough to jump out as the car was still moving and try to run away, Wargo said. The woman stopped the car before it could hit anything.
The suspect surrendered as deputies started setting up a perimeter, he said. He was taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries, including road rash from jumping out of the car, Wargo said. The woman was not injured.
The suspect was expected to be booked for evading an officer, among other crimes, Wargo said.
