At least three teenagers in a car that was reported stolen were injured Thursday night after striking another car and crashing into a pole on the side of a Southern California freeway at the end of a brief chase.
The crash occurred near the Victory Boulevard exit about 10:35 p.m. The pursuit driver rear-ended another vehicle on the southbound 405 Freeway in Van Nuys, spun out across lanes of the freeway and crashed, ejecting the three teens.
One teenage boy, two teenage girls and a man were injured, fire officials said. One of the teens was in critical condition.
The driver of the car that was rear-ended was traveling home from work when the crash sent him into a harrowing spin.
"I'm just thankful to God that we're ok," said Vikram Samra, the driver of the car that was struck. "I don't even know how many times we spun, but literally we just stopped right on the side of the road."
Samra said one of the occupants appeared to have suffered a serious head injury. He told the others to remain still until help arrived, he said.
Police first located the vehicle in Pacoima around 10:30 p.m. and went into tracking mode on city streets, then entered the westbound Ronald Reagan (118) Freeway before transitioning to the southbound San Diego Freeway in Granada Hills.
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Shortly after getting onto the San Diego Freeway, the vehicle rear-ended Samra's car near Victory Boulevard. The fleeing driver lost control and the car spun across lanes of traffic before its passenger side slammed into a pole.
Two people from the car ran off and were taken into custody. One of the occupants is an 18-year-old gang member, according to authorities.
