Suspect In Stolen Minivan Shot After Leading Police On Hour-Long Chase To Yuba City
YUBA CITY (CBS13) — A dangerous and destructive police chase through multiple counties ended in Yuba City where police shot the suspect.
California Highway Patrol said the suspect rammed into police cars and even drove the wrong way through traffic at one point. A trail of damage was clearly visible at the scene of the shooting at the intersection of State Route 99 and Franklin Road Monday afternoon. The suspect was taken to the hospital and is expected to survive.
The front end of a police car was bashed in and bullet holes could be seen in the suspect's windshield.
Dennise Burbank was working at a building just feet away from the mayhem.
"[I] just heard the shots and looked out the back window to see the officer head that direction and do about four or five more shots towards that van over there," she said.
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Police said this all started when a man stole a silver dodge minivan in downtown Sacramento. That driver was later involved in a hit and run in Roseville.
Officers eventually found him and that's when the chaotic chase started. Police say the suspect went the wrong way over a bridge on state route 99.
Leslie Angel saw part of the chase driving on I-80 not far from Roseville.
"One after another, there was like five or six police with their lights and sirens on," she said.
She thought that was the last she would ever see of this chase, but in an amazing coincidence she ended up having lunch at the IHOP in Yuba City located feet from where the chase ended.
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"It was crazy. I thought, 'How could that be?' but then, on the other hand, it's sad," Angel said.
The California Highway Patrol said the suspect was shot and taken to the hospital after trying to run over an officer on a motorcycle. Police on the scene were unsure of the suspect's condition. In the meantime, witnesses are still trying to process what happened.
"[It's] kind of shocking to see an officer shooting his gun..your see it on the news all the time but to actually see it is a little surprising," Burbank said.
The suspect's identity has not yet been released.