A Huntington Park police SUV burst into flames after crashing at the end of a minibike chase late Wednesday night, witnesses say. An officer was involved in the serious collision, but the officer's condition remains unknown. The crash happened shortly after 10 p.m. at Seville Avenue and Florence Avenue, where video showed the police vehicle slamming into several other vehicles.
According to ABC7 Los Angeles, witnesses described Huntington Park police officers chasing a man riding a minibike through the city, with at least five patrol vehicles following the bike with lights and sirens on. One witness recounted watching the minibike and the trailing cruisers speeding through the neighborhood before the crash unfolded. The Huntington Park Police Department vehicle involved ended up with a completely smashed front end, per the outlet's report.
Witnesses told the station the crash involved four vehicles total, including at least one car that had been parked at the time of impact. The minibike rider reportedly got away from the scene, and it remains unclear whether investigators have identified him. The station has reached out to the Huntington Park Police Department for details on the officer's condition and has not received a response.
Why the Minibike Was Already Breaking the Law
The bike at the center of the chase was reportedly illegal, the station's report notes, a detail consistent with state rules governing this category of small motorized cycles. Under California Vehicle Code Section 21720, as detailed by the Modesto Police Department, pocket bikes and minibikes that fail to meet federal safety standards and DMV registration requirements are strictly prohibited from operating on public roads, bikeways, or sidewalks. Most stock minibikes simply lack the turn signals, headlights, and mirrors required for street legality, which is why officers across the region keep encountering them in the first place.
The intersection where the crash happened sits along a heavily trafficked corridor. Florence Avenue is a major east-west arterial highway in Southeast Los Angeles County that carries between 24,000 and 29,000 vehicles daily, according to LA County Planning records, making it a key commercial and commuter transit route. That volume underscores the public safety stakes any time a pursuit runs through the area, regardless of the hour.
A Pattern of High-Speed Pursuits in Huntington Park
This is not the first time a Huntington Park police pursuit has ended in a serious crash. Just weeks before this incident, in August, a chase stretched over 12 miles to Highland Park, ending when the suspect's vehicle T-boned an innocent driver at Figueroa Street and South Avenue 52. Back in December 2023, a Huntington Park pursuit of a road-rage suspect crossed multiple jurisdictions before ending in Hacienda Heights, where officers opened fire after patrol cars were rammed.
Minibike pursuits specifically have proven tricky for Southern California police departments. In June, a Los Angeles Police Department chase of an illegal minibike rider dragged on for more than an hour across South Los Angeles to LAX before crashing at Hyde Park Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard, according to Key News Network. Officers chasing nimble, off-road-capable minibikes face distinct tactical challenges compared to pursuing standard vehicles.
The Numbers Behind Pursuit Risk
Statewide data gives some sense of how often chases like this one go wrong. California law enforcement agencies recorded 11,985 vehicular pursuits in 2022, with 19 percent resulting in collisions that caused 34 fatalities; 798 crashes were injury crashes, injuring 1,345 people, according to a California Highway Patrol report submitted to the state legislature. State law requires local departments to submit detailed pursuit reports to the CHP within 30 days of an incident.
Huntington Park Police Department operates with 56 sworn officers and 52 civilian employees covering a municipal area of just 3.02 square miles, according to Greg Hill & Associates, giving it a relatively dense officer presence for its footprint. That footprint is packed tightly with people: Huntington Park is home to more than 50,000 residents within roughly three square miles, a density exceeding 16,000 residents per square mile, per the U.S. Census Bureau.
Legal Framework Governing Police Chases
California law gives public agencies some protection when pursuits go wrong. Under California Vehicle Code Section 17004.7, police departments receive statutory civil liability immunity for pursuit-related collisions if the agency maintains a qualifying written pursuit policy and mandates annual officer training, per Justia Law. The California Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that agencies do not need full written officer certification compliance to retain that immunity.
State regulations also set minimum training standards for the officers themselves. California Penal Code Section 13519.8 and POST Commission regulations require all peace officers to complete at least one hour of annual pursuit training covering risk evaluation, public safety balancing, and pursuit termination criteria, according to the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. Those standards direct officers to weigh the severity of a suspected offense against the potential hazards to bystanders before continuing a chase.
What remains unknown is the condition of the Huntington Park officer involved in the crash, whether any civilians in the four involved vehicles were hurt, and whether the fleeing minibike rider has since been identified. The Huntington Park Police Department had not responded to inquiries from ABC7 Los Angeles as of its report.
