An innocent person riding a bicycle was killed when a suspected car thief who was fleeing from police crashed in the Central-Alameda neighborhood of Los Angeles Wednesday morning.
The brief pursuit began around 6:10 a.m. and ended minutes later when the vehicle crashed on Hooper Avenue between 46th Street and Vernon Avenue.
Sky5 was over the scene at 6:30 a.m., where the vehicle came to a rest on its roof after crashing into several other vehicles and the bicyclist.
“At Hooper and 46th Street, the suspect vehicle struck a person on a bicycle in that intersection,” Los Angeles Police Department Detective Meghan Aguilar said during a morning news conference.
Responders could be seen setting up a white canopy over the victim’s body, which was covered by a sheet, near 46th Street.
A badly damaged bicycle could also be seen where the unidentified person was pronounced dead.
Video obtained by KTLA shows the moment the bicyclist was struck by the vehicle — which was traveling on the opposite side of the center line — and sent flying into the air.
A man who witnessed the crash told KTLA 5’s Kareen Wynter that the violent nature of the crash was hard to watch.
“How can you describe it? It just sucks what happened to that guy…he got decapitated,” said Alejandro Contreras. “Unfortunately, some people were able to see [the impact]…I couldn’t handle all of that, so I looked away very quickly.”
LAPD Detective Aguilar said the pursuit suspect attempted to run away after the crash but was caught by officers not far from the wreckage. They were identified only as an adult male.
The identity of the deceased bicyclist has not been released.
A power pole was also damaged in the crash, leaving some residents in the area temporarily without power.
Hooper Avenue is set to be closed until further notice until the preliminary investigation is complete.