Crime & Safety

UPDATE: IDs of 3 Suspects Withheld in Banning-to-Industry Pursuit and Officer-Involved Shooting

A Banning police officer believed a motorist was driving under the influence and initiated a traffic enforcement stop in the area of Ramsey Street and 16th Street about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, police said. The pursuit ended about an hour later in L.A. County.

Three suspects in a high-speed freeway chase from Banning into Los Angeles County, including two who were wounded in an officer-involved shooting, remained in custody Wednesday but their names, ages and hometowns were withheld.

More details about how the pursuit started in Banning were released.

About 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, a Banning police officer spotted a vehicle traveling south on 8th Street, approaching West Ramsey Street, said a statement released Wednesday by Chief of Police Leonard Purvis.

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The suspect vehicle entered the Chevron gas station located on the corner of 8th and Ramsey, then exited onto Ramsey "in an unsafe manner," police said.

The officer pulled in behind the vehicle and followed for about eight blocks, as the driver of the suspect vehicle weaved in and out of the lane, police said.

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Believing the driver was operating the vehicle while under the influence, the officer initiated a traffic enforcement stop in the area of 16th and Ramsey, police said.

The driver failed to yield and a vehicle pursuit was initiated. Banning police pursued the vehicle through Banning, Beaumont and Cherry Valley, then onto the 60 Freeway, police said.

Banning police stayed with the pursuit into west Moreno Valley, where the California Highway Patrol assumed control of the pursuit the 60 junction with the 215 Freeway, police said.

The suspects fled at speeds up to 100 miles per hour and ended up westbound on the 60 Freeway in L.A. County, according to the CHP. The chase ended about 7:20 p.m. when the suspect vehicle stopped just north of the 60 Freeway in unincorporated Industry, east of the San Gabriel River.

"The driver suddenly exited and ran from the car, but was detained nearby," Deputy Benjamin Grubb of the L.A. County sheriff's Headquarters Bureau said Wednesday.

A front passenger exited the vehicle brandishing a pistol, and four CHP officers fired at the suspect, striking him, Grubb said. A rear passenger suspect was also wounded.

"Both wounded suspects were transported to a local hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries," Grubb said.

The driver was arrested and the suspect's weapon was recovered at the scene, Grubb said.

No officers were injured. The Los Angeles County sheriff's Homicide Bureau was investigating.

CHP officials in Los Angeles and Santa Fe Springs referred questions to the L.A. County sheriff's department.


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