A driver and four passengers fled from a stolen Kia Soul Thursday after a chase through southern Los Angeles County that ended in a Hawthorne neighborhood.
The five individuals, all minors, ran into a residential area after the chase, which was on the 110 Freeway and nearby streets on a day with light traffic due to the Fourth of July holiday. The chase intensified after the driver entered streets in the Wilmington area.
The driver returned to the freeway in Carson, where speeds reached 90 mph. The Soul weaved across lanes and onto the shoulder as it passed other cars on a relatively wide Los Angeles freeway.
The driver ran multiple red lights before stopping in a Hawthorne neighborhood at Jefferson Avenue and W. 129th Street, where all occupants got out of the Kia at once and ran between apartment buildings. They were arrested later Thursday afternoon.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with our generation. They’re not thinking straight. There’s better things to do than steal a car, show it off and get chased down and arrested,” said a neighbor in Hawthorne.
Shortly after, officers released several minors who were passengers with their parents.
Details about the first crime in the South Los Angeles area were not immediately available.