L.A. - High-speed motorcycle chase ends in arrest

A motorcyclist was arrested Tuesday after leading police on a chase that started in Orange County and ended on Interstate 5 in East Los Angeles when a motorcycle officer cut him off.


The chase began about 8:30 a.m. on the 91 Freeway near Santa Ana when CHP officers tried to pull the motorcycle over for speeding, said Officer Charmaine Fajardo. The driver took off, exiting the freeway at Bloomfield Avenue in Cerritos, said Officer Mike Harris.

Trailed by a CHP helicopter, the motorcycle reached speeds up to 100 mph as the driver took surface streets to the northbound 605 Freeway, Fajardo said. The driver then topped 130 mph before getting on northbound Interstate 5.

Officers had followed the motorcycle only by air because the driver was speeding in and out of traffic, Fajardo said, but a motorcycle officer managed to cut the suspect off on the freeway near South Indiana Street in East Los Angeles.

Television footage showed both motorcycles stopping as the officer got off and approached the suspect with his gun drawn. The suspect then laid on the ground as he was handcuffed about 9:20 a.m.

"It was a beautiful stop," Fajardo said, adding "everybody was safe and that's what matters."

The driver's name has not been released.