A woman was killed Wednesday afternoon in La Palma after a burglary suspect crashed into her car while fleeing police, authorities said.
The victim, a woman in her 60s who drove a blue BMW, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Fullerton Police Department.
The driver of the other vehicle, 40-year-old Anthony Hanzel of Anaheim, was taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries, police said.
Hansel will be held at the Fullerton City Jail on charges including hit-and-run, petty theft and felony eluding, authorities said. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department will investigate the fatal crash.
Surveillance video shared by OnScene.TV shows a white Nissan Rogue running a red light and slamming into a blue BMW, sending it through the intersection of La Palma Boulevard and Moody Street. Two cars can then be seen colliding with three cars at traffic lights.
“I was waiting at a red light at an intersection and I saw the police chasing me and the car coming straight toward me from the other direction,” Lauren Lau, whose car suffered minor damage, told OnScene.TV. “There was a complete T-bone and then those two cars hit me and swerved to the side.”
Fullerton police detectives saw a burglary suspect driving away from the area of North Gilbert Street and West Malvern Avenue at 12:38 p.m., and a pursuit ensued, police said.
Officers tried to stop the suspect, but he ran away. During the pursuit, the suspect was involved in a non-fatal hit-and-run crash near Brookhurst Road and Orangethorpe Avenue, police said.
The driver then sped onto westbound Highway 91 and exited the vehicle at Knott Avenue, where police lost track of the vehicle, police said.
Officers with the Buena Park Police Department briefly spotted the suspect’s vehicle, but then lost sight of it. La Palma Police Department officers later spotted the vehicle at La Palma Avenue and Walker Street and took over the pursuit. The suspect crashed shortly after.
