OFF TOPIC: I Was Just In The Middle Of A Police Chase

[Eleanor Owner]

Just about half an hour ago my mother and I were on our way home from dinner. At the intersection of Beverly and Robertson we heard sirens and before we knew it this white Toyota flies down Beverly and makes a right onto the street we were on going in our direction. My mothers an adventure junkie and so am I so we decided to circle the block and see if we could parallel the suspect and watch the chase. Stupid, I know, but we were safe about it and stayed at a distance one block perpendicular to the chase. I greatly respect police officers and what they do and we weren't intending to interfere in any way. Soon we got disoriented and ended up turning onto a street that runs through the Cedars Sinai Medical Center. The road was ominously deserted with only one or two squad cars on it. We stopped at the stop sign and everything seemed to go dead. Within about thirty seconds two bright headlights came rushing straight at us. For a second we thought it was a car coming out of the parking garage but soon it became apparent that it was the suspect heading straight for us. At the last minute he swerved into the other lane (there was an island in the middle of the road) and probably 10 squad cars sped off after him. (I threw my hands up in the air so fast they almost broke). Wow what a site to be stopped there and have squad cars, sirens blaring, fly by you on both sides. Truly exhilarating! Luckily he pulled into a supermarket parking lot a while later and was apprehended safely. Funny thing is, this is the second time this has happened to me! Same thing happened a few months ago on the PCH although that time I wasn’t looking for trouble I know its completely off topic to this forum, but a cool story nonetheless. Who knows, you might see an E55 on the news tonight This ever happen to anyone else or am I just a magnet for police chases?

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[mannnu81]

was that the chase with the old white corolla? ...tv is lame for broadcasting those. i hope one day i got for a ride allong on one of those tho...

[Eleanor Owner]

Yep, that was him. I'm surprised we even got that close, really. We werent trying to follow him, just the action. But yeah, it is really stupid that TV spends so much time on those. As if there isnt anything else more important going on...

[nlpamg]

Originally Posted by mannnu81

tv is lame for broadcasting those.

who gives a ****! I swear, there's been a car chase on the "news" for two out of three days so far in LA and it's just been utterly annoying. do these stupid stations really think it's that newsworthy to interrupt everything and just focus on chasing around an idiot for an hour? It's just so ridiculous that they have nothing better to air than something as commonplace and non-news or note-worthy as a car chase.

Eleanor Owner, that is pretty cool, I was in the middle of one by the Staples Center months ago, but I chose to head in the opposite direction...

[PerisanGodFatha]

lol Bijan, I was watching that for a second then cut it off, It would have been a great laugh to see you in the middle of that.

[vader]

Haven't people figured out there is a friggin CHOPPER watching them and they can't get away !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Chappy]

Originally Posted by Eleanor Owner

Wow what a site to be stopped there and have squad cars, sirens blaring, fly by you on both sides. Truly exhilarating!

Does your local PD or SO allow ride-alongs? I did one several years ago....highly recommended!

[vraa]

Moving to off topic.

Man that's cool to be in the middle of all that rush.
Do ya think the E55 could've gotten aw... err...

[ElDiabloJoe]

Originally Posted by Chappy

Does your local PD or SO allow ride-alongs? I did one several years ago....highly recommended!

Yes they do. Just call the PD in So Cal in your jurisdiction beit LAPD, LASD, or Beverly Hills PD.

EDJ

[RunInColorado]

Thats pretty cool. So long as they arent chasing you. I remember a bank robber led police on a chase past my house. He wasnt going very fast 45mph but it was interesting to watch especially since the FBI was chasing him in an unmarked tahoe followed by 10 cops. This is also NC so those things dont happen every day like in LA.

If I remember correctly some of the helicopters have a hard time making past 100-120 or so. Ive seen a mustang out run a helicopter and a couple of other cars do it as well. Maybe you guys remember it from worlds most dangerous police chases? (yeah it was a slow tv night!). Anyway, if your going to run from the cops down there, you need to bring a couple of stingers with you. Shoot them down through the sunroof!

[vraa]

Your comparing ground speed of both vehicles.
Remember a chopper is how the bird flies. The car might have to go north and then west, while a chopper can just do the diag and still keep eyesight.

[electromethod]

Am I the only one who thinks it was moronic and stupid to follow the chase? I hold this to be the same as rubbernecking on the interstate. Sorry.. just my honest opinion.

[Eleanor Owner]

Originally Posted by PerisanGodFatha

lol Bijan, I was watching that for a second then cut it off, It would have been a great laugh to see you in the middle of that.

Hahaha, you would have seen me with both of my arms out my sunroof!! I thought I saw you in the white G55 on Santa Monica right after that but I guess it wasn't you.

I didn't know you could do ride alongs around here?? Thats awesome. I'll look into that.

[Eleanor Owner]

Originally Posted by electromethod

Am I the only one who thinks it was moronic and stupid to follow the chase? I hold this to be the same as rubbernecking on the interstate. Sorry.. just my honest opinion.

I think it certainly is. But as I said, I wasn't trying to follow the chase. I was paralleling the chase from a street over, just watching the helicopters and the cops from a block away. I sort of got lost and somehow ended up in the middle of it. It was never, ever my intention to get that close. As exhilirating as it was, it was scary as hell.

[electromethod]

What I don't understand is why you would "follow" the chase even through a parallel street. What benefit was it to you? You only put yourself and your mother in danger..... It doesn't matter that you got "lost." What matters is that it's best to steer clear of those situations..... that way you are safe and are not a nuisance to the police.

[RunInColorado]

Originally Posted by vraa

Your comparing ground speed of both vehicles.
Remember a chopper is how the bird flies. The car might have to go north and then west, while a chopper can just do the diag and still keep eyesight.

it was a straight interstate so cutting corners didnt really help. But yes, most of the time you would be correct!

[franklee168]

i compare that story to the time across the street from my work. a squad of swat personnel was ready to raid this shady hotel in full gear, 12 gauges and other artillerey drawn. a group of my employees decided to watch the action. i reminded them that when the shooting began, hopefully they weren't in the way of any stray bullets. needless to say, they all came back in.

[AsianML]

Originally Posted by electromethod

What I don't understand is why you would "follow" the chase even through a parallel street. What benefit was it to you? You only put yourself and your mother in danger..... It doesn't matter that you got "lost." What matters is that it's best to steer clear of those situations..... that way you are safe and are not a nuisance to the police.

Would it make any difference if the nav on the E55 took Eleanor Owner around those streets and into the hospital road thing?

[sf280]

A year or so back I was driving down Divisadero in San Francisco in a not so great part of town where I came to an intersection and there was a median between the two different directions of traffic. As I am sitting there I see this late 80's Chevy Blazer hauling ass towards me in the opposite direction followed by about 10 cops cars. He blew through the light and about 5 feet after he passed my car he jumped the median since there was now traffic blocking his way and he continued down the wrong side of the road and then made a turn at the next intersection. This same move was copied by the 10 cop cars. When I got home and watched the news a few hours later there was a story about the Cops killing a guy that they were in pursuit. It was just 3 blocks after they had passed me.

Here is the rest of the story

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...AG1NCD8RN1.DTL

And here is even more fun on this guy:
http://www.geocities.com/mnsocialist/policekilling.html

http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2005/05/1714298.php

I really do not feel sorry for him because he almost got me killed.

[Greg@DI]

I live in NY and while we have our idiots here but it seems like there are more car chases on the west coast. Anyone else notice this trend?

Greg @ Detailed Image

[Eleanor Owner]

Theres got to be an average of at least a chase a day here in LA. Its a bad phenomenon.

[DarkHand]

Originally Posted by franklee168

i compare that story to the time across the street from my work. a squad of swat personnel was ready to raid this shady hotel in full gear, 12 gauges and other artillerey drawn. a group of my employees decided to watch the action. i reminded them that when the shooting began, hopefully they weren't in the way of any stray bullets. needless to say, they all came back in.

Same type of this with a bank robbery that happened in the next door building and my building simultaneously on broadway down by Wall St.
Shots are being fired and people are hanging out of windows...

Had to yell and yank coworkers down off tables...

[raymond g-]

i was pulled over by Seattle PD SWAT one time....in a fully loaded armored
personnel carrier. i saw on the shoulder for a couple of minutes and then
they instructed me over the loudspeaker to "go ahead...you can continue".
when I got home i tuned into their freq on my ham radio and found someone
was shooting at them near that area. i surmised the vehicle described may
have resembled mine.

[Moviela]

TV only shows 1 or 2% of the chases. The airships need a few minutes to get in position, and most chases last less than 5 minutes. The police 'copter flies low and close to illuminate the subject with their night sun lamp. This allows the TV stations to fly higher and make the color pictures fly through the air. The TV crews are usually only up during the newscast, and it is too expensive for them to interrupt network programming. The chases do give great ratings to newscasts. There is even a company in LA that will call your cell when a chase is on. We all watch. It is live, real, and we all hope to see a scary crash.

Once in a while, one gets away, mostly motorcycles.

[Sauceboy01]

I saw the one on wednesday night. As usual it ended in an extremely boring manner.