Antioch man with baby in car crashes, kills woman during police pursuit in Long Beach
A 39-year-old driver wanted by federal authorities on a weapons violation charge led police on a short pursuit Tuesday night before crashing into multiple vehicles in Long Beach and killing a woman in another car, authorities said.
Police said Chaz Lamar Long, of the east San Francisco Bay Area city of Antioch, jumped into the driver’s seat of a 2006 Lexus sedan that Seal Beach police stopped for a traffic violation near Pacific Coast Highway and Marina Drive shortly before 8 p.m. Long was a passenger in the sedan, but while an officer was running a background check on the female driver, he and the woman traded seats, and Long sped away.
Authorities said an infant was also inside the vehicle.
Long refused to pull over, and briefly drove in the wrong direction on PCH, police said. Around 8:05 p.m., he slammed into multiple vehicles at PCH and 2nd Street in Long Beach, according to authorities.
A police pursuit ended in a nine-vehicle crash Tuesday night that reportedly killed one person and injured eight others.
After the crash, Long tried to run away, but police used a Taser to take him into custody, according to the Seal Beach Police Department. He was taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries sustained in the crash, police said.
He was taken into custody by the Long Beach Police Department on an outstanding federal warrant for an arrest stemming from a weapons violation charge, authorities said.
The original driver of the Lexus, a woman who has not yet been identified, was also injured in the crash. She and the infant inside the vehicle were taken to a hospital as a precautionary measure, according to police. She was not arrested in connection with the traffic stop or crash.
The man was driving around 45 mph on Highway 138 when he jumped out of the vehicle as it approached a spike strip set up by police, TV footage shows.
Six other people were also injured in the crash and taken to hospitals for treatment, authorities said. Sara Nicole Shorteno, 74, of Toronto, was a passenger in one of the vehicles and died at the scene, according to the Los Angeles County medical examiner-coroner’s office.
Anyone with information about the pursuit or crash is asked to call Det. Joseph Johnson with the Long Beach Police Department at (562) 570-7355. Anonymous tips can be made through L.A. Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.
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