LOS ANGELES -- A suspected car thief led police on a chase across Los Angeles before he ditched the vehicle and climbed to the top of a loading crane at the city's port, dangling over edges and stripping naked before falling to his death.
The man fell about 50 metres to the ground and died about three hours after he first scaled the crane Wednesday night. It's not clear whether he slipped or jumped deliberately, Los Angeles fire officials said.
Police in Los Angeles spotted the car reported stolen from a dealership in San Bernardino, and an hours-long chase ensued, the LAPD said.
Several television stations broadcast the chase live, showing the SUV swerving at high speed through freeway traffic in L.A. and Long Beach, sometimes crossing into oncoming lanes.
He drove into the vast complex of the Port of Los Angeles and drove into a terminal, circling back and forth under giant loading cranes and next to a docked ship before jumping out of the still-moving SUV and racing up the stairs of the crane. He broke a window and climbed into the crane cab, then climbed out, walked to the end of the crane over water as darkness fell.
Port workers stopped their labour and watched the scene, some with binoculars.
Police waited below for him for hours, worried that if they approached he might slip or jump.
As news helicopters hovered above, he shed his Lakers jersey and shoes, then later took off the rest of his clothes. He dangled and nearly fell several times before eventually plunging to the ground.
“Our officers were nowhere near to close proximity of the suspect at the time that he fell,” Detective Meghan Aguilar said.
The man's name has not been released.
Eric Nosser, a salesman at the Subaru dealership the SUV was stolen from, says he steered clear of the man.
“I let him be, because he seemed on edge,” Mr Nosser told KNBC-TV. “I figured he'd just kind of walk off and go about his business.”
Instead the man found an SUV with the keys in it, got inside and took off.
Earlier report:
8.30pm
A suspected car thief has been perched high atop a Port of Los Angeles loading crane for well over an hour as police wait below, and he has now taken off all his clothes.
The LAPD says the man is suspected of stealing an SUV from a San Bernardino car dealership Wednesday. Police chased him to the loading dock where he hiked up the stairs to the top of the crane about 43 metres above the ground and ocean.
He took off his shirt and shoes after ascending the crane, and minutes later took off his pants.
At times he walks around or dangles a leg over the side of the narrow arm.
Police haven't tried to reach the man out of concern he might slip or jump.
___
6.36pm
A man who led authorities on a chase in a stolen car is perched on the arm of a loading crane at the Port of Los Angeles.
Police say an SUV reported stolen from a dealership in San Bernardino was spotted in Los Angeles shortly after 3pm.
During an hours-long chase, the car swerved at high speed through freeway traffic in L.A. and Long Beach, sometimes crossing into oncoming lanes.
The car drove into a terminal, circling back and forth under giant loading cranes and next to a docked ship before the driver fled and climbed stairs to the top of the crane.
He broke into the crane cab, came out, walked to the end of the crane over water, then returned and is sitting on a crane arm.
The car chase:
Video: Pursuit driver in Lakers jersey goes in wild circles at Port of LA before climbing onto crane. Watch live: https://t.co/VS3HHaKWmd pic.twitter.com/33DGbofZA4
— KTLA (@KTLA) August 17, 2017
(Video Twitter/@KTLA)
Dancing on the crane:
WATCH LIVE: Pursuit suspect in a #Kobe jersey sitting 100s of feet in the air on a crane. https://t.co/PCRN9qM70O pic.twitter.com/AqePQfGi0r
— #NBC7 San Diego (@nbcsandiego) August 17, 2017
(Video Twitter/@nbcsandiego)
Breaking into the crane cab:
Driver in pursuit breaks into a room atop a crane unit, trying to hide at Port of Los Angeles. pic.twitter.com/mwdcxGLSac
— Michelle Tuzee (@abc7michelle) August 17, 2017
(Video Twitter/@abc7michelle)