The driver who narrowly avoided striking a young girl during a dangerous high-speed police pursuit through South LA was identified as Brittani Collins, 25, of Los Angeles.
Collins, with the hood of her pink sweatshirt covering her head, ran from a silver Lexus Tuesday afternoon after sideswiping a bus and crashing over a curb at the end of a pursuit on South LA freeways and surface streets.
The crash occurred just minutes after a male occupant -- identified a Melvin Lane, 30, of Long Beach -- ran from the silver late-model Lexus sedan in a residential area, prompting a brief search.
California Highway Patrol units pursued the pair wanted in connection with burglarizing a home in the 2900 block of Olympic View Drive in Chino Hills. The pursuit flew along the 110, 710 and 91 freeways before the driver in a silver Lexus sedan transitioned to surface streets in South LA.
The driver nearly struck a girl and adult female as the pedestrians began to cross a street in South LA. The adult, holding the girl's hand, pulled the girl back onto the sidewalk just as she stepped into the street and the Lexus arrived at the intersection.
The pursuit driver swerved to avoid another vehicle that was exiting from a parking lot.
At about 1 p.m., a man on a cell phone exited the Lexus and ran into a residential area near Vermont and Normandie avenues. About 20 minutes later, aerial video showed authorities taking Lane into custody.
The pursuit ended in a shower of trim pieces when Collins attempted to drive the Lexus between a bus and parked car, but sideswiped both vehicles. After she crashed over a curb, the woman -- wearing a pink hoodie and pink shoes, and holding a cell phone to her ear -- ran from the car near Martin Luther King Boulevard and Normandie Avenue (map).
She was taken into custody behind a building in a residential area.