Man in Golf Cart Sparks Los Angeles Police Chase

A bizarre police chase through the streets of Los Angeles unfolded on Sunday night with squad cars and news helicopters tailing a suspect who was fleeing in a golf cart.

The unusually slow police chase was streamed live on news channels as a chopper's spotlight picked out the golf cart steadily making its way along a main road at about 20 mph.

As the camera zoomed in, it became apparent that the driver was barefoot, dressed only in shorts, and had a dog on his lap as several police cars with flashing lights tailed behind him. He was wanted for questioning on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and the golf cart had been stolen, local news channel KCAL News reported.

The alleged offence follows a string of high-profile crimes in the city, which has led to political ramifications as politicians argue over how to deal with a sharp increase in violent and property crime. Violent crime was 6.1 percent higher last year, compared to 2021 figures, according to California's annual crime report which was published this summer.

Sunday's pursuit began at around 9:10 p.m. in North Hollywood and ended 35 minutes later when the suspect tried to flee the vehicle on foot after pulling into a 7-Eleven parking lot. Police officers had previously tried to deploy spike strips in front of the golf cart to disable it, but their attempts were unsuccessful. The cart, which had the word "security" emblazoned on the side, had been stolen at knifepoint, according to local news channel ABC 7.

More than a dozen officers swooped on the suspect near the intersection of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Oxnard Street at about 9:45 p.m. after he ran from the golf cart, and KCAL News aired overhead footage of the arrest from the SkyCal helicopter. The golf cart had reached heady speeds of 20 mph during the chase, the channel reported, and an officer grabbed the man's dog for safekeeping as the suspect was taken into custody.

Another news station, NBC Los Angeles, also streamed the footage live on TV and posted images from the incident on social media site X, formerly known as Twitter.

Retired police Sergeant Patrick O'Malley had provided a commentary over the events as he was interviewed on air by KCAL News. "Like we say: You see it all in Southern California," he said. "This just adds to the list."

But he noted the choice of getaway vehicle would make things easier for the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). "The good thing is, is that golf carts can only go so fast... They will probably just ride this one out, until it runs out of gas or it runs out of battery."

When asked why the squad cars were tailing the golf cart from some distance behind, instead of catching up with the driver and apprehending him, O'Malley said: "That's what we don't know, because we don't know all the facts of what happened [beforehand to prompt the chase]."

Newsweek has reached out to the LAPD for further information and comment.

The scenes this weekend follow a string of dramatic police chases hitting the news in the U.S.

In November last year, a Florida man took "cut and run" to a new level when he fled from police on a lawnmower. While a naked ATV rider evaded police for 10 miles on a highway chase in Kansas back in February 2018. In 2020, a stolen U-Haul truck led to a police chase that spanned several cities across California.