Woman in Stolen Vehicle Arrested After Police Pursuit, DUI Suspected

According to a story appearing on the CBS Local in Los Angeles website, a 23-year-old woman has been taken into custody after she led Los Angeles Police Department officers on a pursuit around the San Fernando Valley late Monday and into early Tuesday morning.

A spokesperson for the LAPD told reporters that the pursuit began at approximately 11:15 p.m. at the intersection of Sepulveda Boulevard and Raymer Street Van Nuys when officers suspected a female driver of being behind the wheel while under the influence of alcohol. 

Officers attempted to pull the Honda Civic over, but the driver refused to comply, leading police through the streets. During the pursuit, LAPD officers learned that the vehicle had been stolen.

During the long pursuit of the suspect, officers had the driver and stolen vehicle cornered in a cul-de-sac. The driver rammed her way through a barricade of police cruisers, and officers outside their vehicles attempted to break through the windows of the car. The driver nearly ran over several of the officers who had responded to the scene.

Officers attempted one PIT maneuver, which proved to be unsuccessful after the driver spun the car 180 degrees and blew past several police cruisers going in the opposite direction. Officers performed a second PIT maneuver, but this time the driver managed to escape by driving the stolen car several hundred feet in reverse. 

Police tried a third PIT maneuver and employed a spike strip. The driver tried to evade it, but the Honda was disabled from the spike strip. The driver was  apprehended after a brief standoff with police and taken into custody on suspicion of DUI and felony evading. Six police cruisers were damaged, and no injuries were reported.

Authorities have not yet released the identity of the driver. 

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