Car Thief Suspect Arrested After San Francisco Tenderloin Hit-And-Run Rampage
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- A suspected car thief led police officers a wild rampage on San Francisco streets Wednesday afternoon, causing a series of hit-and-run collisions that left six injured, one seriously.
San Francisco police said officers spotted a silver SUV at Leavenworth and Eddy and determined it was stolen. The vehicle continued eastbound on Eddy St. and stopped in front of the Tenderloin station.
Officers approached the vehicle on foot, but the driver turned the vehicle and drove onto the sidewalk and struck a worker and scaffolding. The worker was transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Surveillance video showed dozens of officers on foot trying to stop the suspect by surrounding the vehicle. The driver then did a series of maneuvers to evade police, hitting multiple cars in the process, before fleeing eastbound on Eddy St.
The person then used the vehicle in multiple hit-and-runs in a short span of time and caused aggravated assaults, police said. First, the vehicle struck one pedestrian in the crosswalk at Eddy St. and Taylor St., causing the pedestrian to sustain life-threatening injuries.
The suspect vehicle was involved in another collision at Market St. and 5th St., where the driver struck two vehicles before fleeing southbound on 5th St.
At 5th St. and Clara St., police said the vehicle was involved in another collision with one vehicle, causing injuries to a person inside, before the suspect fled down the alley of Clara St.
The driver, an adult female, was taken into custody at 6th St. and Clara St., where officers saw the vehicle involved in a final collision that prevented her from going any further. She was transported to a hospital for a complaint of pain.
SFPD said the person seriously injured is in stable condition.
The San Francisco Department of Emergency Management issued an advisory for the area at about 2:05 p.m. Drivers and pedestrians were being asked to avoid the area.
