pursuit: December 2007 Archives

I don't know how we missed this, but here's a Pasadena item from Discovery News that ran in November but's sort of related to a story from earlier this week. Of course the Chippies didn't need any fancy stuff, all it took was the suspect ramming his Nissan Titan into a mountainside at 70 mph. The item begins below:

Nov. 29, 2007 -- The same microwave radiation that reheats pizza can be used to fry the electrical systems in cars, stopping them dead in their tracks.

Emitted from a rooftop device, the radiation could be used by law enforcement officers to put an end to dangerous car chases or by military personnel as a non-lethal way of disabling vehicles that get too close for comfort.

"The idea is to warn an automobile some distance away from a high-value target like a military barrack or a communication center. If they don't comply, you just zap them and it prevents them from coming closer," said James Tatoian, CEO of Eureka Aerospace in Pasadena, Calif.

Yesterday I speculated that Ruben Smith, the Azusa man who led police on a wild chase across the San Gabriel Valley, was a pool man.

Guess what? Ruben Smith is a pool man.

That stuff in the back of his truck is chemicals and tools used to clean pools.

Ruben Smith, 41, of Azusa leads CHP officers on a high speed pursuit east along the San Bernardino Freeway during rush hour.

The pursuit, which began in Azusa, went down the 605, out the 60 up the 5, back on the 10 flipping through the bus terminal in El Monte, back out on the 10, in search of the 710 extension at Valley boulevard, back on the 10 again and up the 605 over on the 210 and up into the Azusa Canyon.

Rueben flipped his Nissan Titan pickup and was taken by helicopter to LA County USC Medical center late Monday, officials said.

The picture here comes from staff photog Raul Roa.

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This is how we believe the pursuit went down. The information comes from listening on the scanner, wire service reports and watching KCAL, KNBC and KABC. Still very little information on the suspect or what started the pursuit. One wire service is reporting erroneously that the pursuit began in Vernon. We know it was San Dimas deputies who initiated the chase after reports of an assault with a deadly weapon. 

The pursuit began in the 5000 of Rockvale Avenue in Azusa near Vernon Avenue!!!

San Dimas Sheriff's deputies are involved in the pursuit of a possibly armed suspect on the southbound 605 Freeway. The pursuit began about 2:30 p.m. It's now been turned over the the California Highway Patrol, officials said.

KCAL 9 is now carrying the pursuit live....my question? is this a pool man, looks like chemicals in the back fo the truck...

btw this was headlined High Speed Pursuit but it hasn't been going fast .....so I changed it to Police pursuit.

There's at least eight of us gathered around the newsroom television watching this unfold...I will be sending a reporter out if it goes bad.. or gets weird

KCAL 9 says they're doing exclusive live coverage...

well not quite exclusive. We had it here first and we're still blogging it....

4:10 p.m. UPDATE This guy has been pretty much all over the San Gabriel Valley. I started a google map but got interrupted for a meeting. KABC says the suspect (who looks like  a pool man to me) is in Alhambra can see hiom in the bus lane now, where he pulled an interesting maneuver earlier)

4:40 p.m. It's all over in a flash when suspect goes up the Azusa Canyon and wrecks his Nissan Titan before being taken into custody.