Man on dirt bike leads police on chase through downtown L.A., makes phone call, stops for gas
A 19-year-old man led police on an hourlong chase on a motorcycle Wednesday that stretched from the streets of northeast L.A. to South L.A. and ended with him surrendering after hiding in what appeared to be a recycling bin.
It was his birthday.
The Los Angeles Police Department started to chase Christian Fuentes around 5:40 p.m. near Cabot Street and Blake Avenue, north of Elysian Park, after they got a report of a man with a gun on a dirt bike, the department said. Helicopter footage captured by local CBS and NBC affiliates showed the blue motorcycle speeding on surface streets, with the rider wearing a mask and often appearing to be talking on his phone, and at least once, standing up on his bike.
The man at one point stopped at a gas station and appeared to use the “tap” feature on his phone to pay, then suddenly drove off without removing the nozzle from the tank, tearing the hose off of the pumping station, helicopter footage showed. Later, he rode into Athens Park, which was busy with children, and made a few circles as police closed in on him before speeding off. At one point, he was seen stopping in a park, picking up a large container filled with liquid left on the grass and pouring the contents into his gas tank.
The suspect ditched his bike in the Broadway-Manchester neighborhood, northeast of where Interstates 105 and 110 intersect, and ran off. Helicopter footage shows him jumping over a fence, then jumping into a recycling bin before getting out, putting his hands up, taking off his mask and walking backward, with a limp, toward the police officers that had gathered at the end of the residential driveway. He was arrested around 6:45 p.m.
The dirt bike had been stolen, police said.
Fuentes was booked on charges of felony vandalism, vehicle theft and felony evading, the Police Department said. Police didn’t find a gun on him but said he discarded it near where the chase began. It hasn’t been recovered, police said.
According to Fuentes’ jail booking information, Wednesday was his 19th birthday.