11.04.2021 | 7:00 AM | SANTA ANA – A wild pursuit of a stolen big rig that spanned three southern California counties ended after an hours-long standoff on a busy freeway, early Thursday morning.
The hours-long pursuit began when authorities received reports of a big rig that had been stolen from Individual FoodService, located in the 5400 block of Lindbergh Lane in Bell, around 8:00 PM.
A company employee followed the stolen big rig until officers could attempt to stop the vehicle but the driver refused to pull over prompting a pursuit that followed the I-5 Freeway into Ventura County.
The driver eventually turned around and continued back through Los Angeles and into Orange County.
Several spike strips were deployed shredding more than half of the tires on the 18-wheeler but the driver continued on until the truck became disabled on the southbound SR-55 Freeway near MacArthur Boulevard in Santa Ana around 3:00 AM.
All southbound lanes of the freeway were closed as a SWAT team used armored vehicles to surround the suspect during the lengthy standoff.
The incident was resolved peacefully when SWAT officers apprehended the driver, later identified as 22-year-old Bryan Santana, of Los Angeles, around 8:30 AM.
Santana was booked into the Orange County Jail where he was being held in lieu of $50,000 bail.
