A pre-dawn police pursuit in Hawthorne ended violently Monday when a speeding car flipped on the eastbound Rosecrans on-ramp to the northbound San Diego (I-405) Freeway, leaving a woman under arrest and in the hospital while crews shut the ramp to deal with the wreck and a battered guardrail.
The California Highway Patrol received a report of “possible highway violence” at 12:47 a.m., Officer Sergio Garcia told City News Service, according to MyNewsLA. Officers spotted the suspect vehicle around 1:06 a.m. on the northbound 405 near Crenshaw Boulevard, and when they tried to pull it over, the driver took off, sparking a chase that hit speeds of 90 to 100 mph.
“Video showed the damaged sedan at the entrance to the freeway and a woman handcuffed to a gurney being loaded onto an ambulance,” MyNewsLA reported. A news videographer on scene estimated that about 100 feet of guardrail were chewed up before the sedan rolled, and the Rosecrans on-ramp stayed closed while crews picked through the debris and secured the damaged barrier.
Where It Happened
The Rosecrans and Crenshaw corridors funnel drivers to several major South Bay routes, and traffic experts note that this stretch can snarl fast when a ramp goes offline. Hoodline previously covered a deadly April crash at the same intersection, reporting that the corridor is among Hawthorne’s higher-crash hotspots; see Fatal Crash Closes Crenshaw.
What Authorities Say
According to CHP investigators speaking to City News Service, the woman suspected in Monday’s crash had been following a victim’s vehicle before officers located the car, though they were still working to determine how it ended up on the Rosecrans on-ramp. At the time of reporting, authorities had not released her medical condition or said what charges, if any, she might face.
Traffic Impact
The closure of the northbound I-405 Rosecrans on-ramp backed up nearby surface streets while tow operators and investigators did their work. Drivers moving through the Hawthorne interchange were advised to brace for follow-up repairs and occasional lane restrictions as crews finish fixing the damaged guardrail and clear any remaining debris.
