Robbery suspects lead police on reckless pursuit before crashing in Echo Park

(FOX 11/CNS) - A robbery suspect in an SUV led police on a high-speed chase from Highland Park to Glendale and downtown Los Angeles before crashing the vehicle into a bus stop in Echo Park and being taken into custody following a brief foot chase.

The pursuit began about 3:30 p.m. in the 800 block of North Avenue 50 in Highland Park, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

The male suspect, with a male passenger aboard, sped on freeways and city streets, sometimes on the wrong side of the road and narrowly missing pedestrians and other vehicles. For a time, the driver wound through the bustling streets of downtown Los Angeles, and at one point items were thrown from the vehicle.

Officers could be seen attempting to use spike strips to slow the vehicle, which eventually headed north on the Hollywood (101) Freeway into the Echo Park area, where the SUV crashed into a bus stop about 4:45 p.m. near the intersection of Echo Park Avenue and Sunset Boulevard.

Both the driver and passenger fled from the crashed vehicle but were quickly collared by officers.

The driver appeared to try and carjack another vehicle shortly before he was taken down.

An ambulance was summoned, according to a report from the scene, but it was not immediately clear who was injured.