CA Stolen Party Bus Pursuit Ends in Crash

A woman suspected of stealing a limo party bus in San Diego led California Highway Patrol officers on a pursuit Tuesday that ended when the bus slammed into the rear of another vehicle near Los Angeles.

CHP officers at one point attempted to deploy a spike strip but it appeared the party bus avoided it on the roadway, ABC7 reported. The party bus eventually exited the 405 Freeway and was traveling along a roadway in the Antelope Valley area, where it struck the rear of a sedan and came to a stop in the middle of the road.

The driver of the party bus was taken into custody, but her identity has not been released. The motorist struck by the bus was taken by ambulance to a hospital to be checked out.

The owner of the bus company, Susie Leitzhe, told CBS 8 that a limo driver was picking up a client on Morena Boulevard in San Diego that morning and got out of the vehicle when the suspect jumped inside and took off.

"My driver went to pick up the clients and somebody jumped into the bus and stole the bus around 10:30 this morning," Lietzche, the owner of Top Dog Limo Bus Inc., explained.  "About an hour and a half later, we received a call from somebody that was on the 405 going north in Long Beach, making a complaint.  We called dispatch at the same time." 

At the time of the collision, Lietzche was watching the police chase on her cell phone.

"I do want to thank the person that did call in to complain, that followed the bus, and the dispatchers and the police for helping moving this along," Leitzhe said.