A suspected DUI driver in an SUV drew a helicopter pursuit on the westbound 10 Freeway in Los Angeles Monday night, with authorities responding after the driver allegedly hit multiple cars along the way. No ground units were visibly trailing the vehicle at around 10:30 p.m., leaving a law enforcement helicopter to track the SUV from above.
According to KTLA, the helicopter stayed locked on the SUV as it moved along the freeway, with the station's Sky 5 aircraft overhead to capture the pursuit as it unfolded.
A Pursuit Playing Out With Eyes in the Sky, Not on the Road
The absence of ground units following the SUV is notable on its own, since freeway chases in the Los Angeles area typically draw a visible phalanx of patrol cars alongside any aerial support. Here, per the same KTLA account, the helicopter appeared to be the primary set of eyes keeping pace with the SUV as it continued westbound, with the driver's path marked by the earlier alleged collisions rather than any confirmed law enforcement contact on the roadway itself.
A Grim Reminder From a Recent Freeway Pursuit Near Baldwin Park
The Monday night chase comes just two days after a separate suspected-DUI pursuit ended in tragedy near Baldwin Park. As reported by the Los Angeles Times, three people were killed and a fourth was hospitalized with major injuries after a car fleeing California Highway Patrol officers slammed into a concrete wall.
In that case, the driver of a 2011 Toyota Corolla, suspected of driving under the influence, fled at high speeds after CHP officers tried to stop the car for unsafe driving near Francisquito Avenue and the 10 Freeway around 4 a.m., the Times reported. The driver lost control at the Francisquito Avenue off-ramp and died at the scene, while two passengers died later at separate hospitals.
That fatal outcome underscores the stakes anytime a suspected impaired driver takes to the freeway with authorities in pursuit. For the Monday night chase on the westbound 10, no information beyond KTLA's initial report has surfaced confirming how the encounter was resolved.
