LA police chase: Puppy recovered after being thrown out of moving car
LOS ANGELES - A puppy was safely recovered after being thrown out of a moving vehicle during a wild 2-hour pursuit through parts of Los Angeles County Friday afternoon.
The pursuit began around noon in the area of 99th Street and Avalon Boulevard in South Los Angeles.
The suspect, in a Chevy Avalanche, was wanted for attempted murder and carjacking.
LA police chase: Suspect hits vehicle, jumps into another during wild 2-hour pursuit
A suspect wanted for attempted murder led officers with the Los Angeles Police Department on a two-hour pursuit Friday afternoon that spanned across LA County, at one point ditching one vehicle and getting into another.
SkyFOX was live over the chase as the vehicle sped through parts of Inglewood and Westchester, on both sides of the Los Angeles International Airport.
During the chase, the suspect's vehicle hit another car and shortly thereafter the driver ditched the Chevy truck and got into the back of another vehicle, that appeared to be waiting for him.
RELATED: Suspect hits vehicle, jumps into another during wild 2-hour pursuit
The chase continued at high speeds on surface streets in Willowbrook before the driver in the second vehicle led authorities back to the South LA area.
In the area of 56th Street and Figueroa St, someone from inside the vehicle tossed a puppy out of the car. The puppy was placed inside a designer handbag. LAPD officers recovered the puppy and took it to South LA Animal Services.
FOX 11 got an exclusive look at the pup, who somehow escaped uninjured. "All is well as you can see — this little puppy’s doing just fine, and we just wanted to be able to let all your viewers know that all is well," said Matthew Spease, an Animal Care Technician Supervisor with LA Animal Services. The 8-week old mixed-breed pup will be on a hold while an investigation into his rightful owner is completed.
While he is not available for adoption, hundreds of dogs and cats in the area need forever homes. This weekend, all LA City animal shelters have reduced adoption fees for dogs and cats — for more information go to laanimalservices.com.
The dramatic pursuit came to an end around 2 p.m. when the driver and passengers jumped out of the car in a residential street in Carson. The male suspect ran towards a house but soon surrendered to officers, the female driver was also taken into custody.
In total, three people were arrested, the police department announced Saturday morning. The suspects were identified as 27-year-old Gustavo Alvarez, 27-year-old Lynette Moreno and 25-year-old Michelle Zamudio.
Alvarez was wanted for an attempted murder and carjacking that occurred on March 26 in the area of 101st Street and San Pedro St. Police say Moreno was arrested for setting up the second getaway vehicle and Zamudio was arrested for driving the second getaway vehicle.