Couple Shot After Leading Authorities on Freeway Chase in Stolen Police Car

A man and woman stole a police car and led officers on a 30-minute freeway chase through parts of Riverside, Norco and Ontario on Friday before they were surrounded and shot when the man drew a shotgun, authorities said.

Neither the woman, who was critically injured, nor the man, who suffered a serious gunshot wound in the shoulder, were identified late Friday, said Sgt. Don Padelford of the Riverside Police Department. The male suspect refused to give his name, and neither victim carried identification, Padelford said.

The couple--believed to be in their 30s--were first noticed loitering at the entrance to Riverside’s Crestlawn Cemetery, Padelford said. When approached by a Riverside police officer, the man pushed the officer and the couple jumped into the patrol car and drove away, Padelford said.

The stolen police car led other units, including two helicopters, on a chase lasting 30 to 40 miles before they were forced from the Pomona Freeway and rammed by another police car. Officers surrounded the suspects, but the man refused to surrender, Padelford said.

“The male suspect somehow was able to remove a shotgun from the (police car) and was raising the shotgun in a firing stance,” the sergeant said. “That’s when the officers opened up.”

About 10 shots were fired, Padelford said. The woman was hit several times in the upper body and rushed to a hospital in Loma Linda, he said. Police hoped to identify the couple today from fingerprints.