'Star Wars' moviegoers scatter as police pursuit ends with car crash at Hollywood theater
A suspected grand theft auto that led to a police-involved chase in Hollywood, California, ended with moviegoers and tourists fleeing for their lives.
The Los Angeles Police Department responded on Thursday night to a report of a possible stolen Mercedes-Benz in the nearby Wilshire area, authorities said. Two suspects were in the dark-colored sedan and collided with a police vehicle before driving off and leading police on a high-speed chase.
The chase ended when the suspects crashed their car into the entrance of the Hollywood & Highland complex, sending people scattering. The crash occurred just around the corner from Grauman's Chinese Theatre with its famous Hollywood Walk of Fame.
"It was very scary," witness Alejandro Aguilar told Los Angeles ABC station KABC. "There were families, friends -- everybody was running, and the police were like, 'Out, out.'"
The suspects then jumped out of the car and ran into the complex -- where the movie theater was showing the new "Star Wars" film -- as police pursued them on foot, directing shoppers and moviegoers to clear the area.
"I thought that we were inside a movie," Iryna Kryvda told KABC. "It looked like the same as the action movie that we just saw...But no one was filming so then we realized it was real."
Police apprehended one of the suspects and the other is still at large as of Friday morning, a police spokesman told ABC News.
No pedestrians were injured, police said.
