In the land of high-speed chases, it was a menacing ride. 
 
 An armed man careened down traffic-clogged freeways during Monday's evening commute, bobbing and weaving across southeast Los Angeles County, often against traffic. 
 
 He collided with at least six vehicles and forced a 22-year-old woman out of her car at gunpoint, police said. 
 
 The chase came to a halt only after as many as three officers fired bullets into him on live television, arresting him as he lay on the pavement in Montebello. 
 
 "This individual acted with a complete disregard for other people's lives," Los Angeles Police Department Cmdr. Andy Smith told The Times. 
 
 "He callously put innocent people's lives in danger, even after the police backed off the pursuit and tracked with the helicopter. Thank God no one was killed by this maniac." 
 
 As of 10 p.m., the man -- who had not yet been identified -- was alive in the hospital with multiple gunshot wounds. His exact condition was unknown, Sgt. Frank Preciado said. 
 
 The pursuit began about 5:15 p.m. near the intersection of East 1st and Soto streets east of downtown Los Angeles on reports of a stolen vehicle. 
 
 Officers in the Hollenbeck Division called for backup before attempting to pull over the man; the vehicle's license plates were listed as stolen. 
 
 The driver failed to stop, spawning a high-speed chase that wound through southeast Los Angeles County and neighboring cities. 
 
 About 5:30 p.m., the man crashed his car near Imperial Highway, then pulled out what appeared to be a gun and stole a car driven by a woman, later identified as 22-year-old Elizabeth Yarahuan. 
 
 "He just came up to me and pointed the gun at me and told me to get out of my car," Yarahuan told KABC-TV Channel 7. "I was just scared he was going to hurt me." 
 
 The pursuit continued onto the westbound 105 Freeway before the driver darted onto the northbound 710 Freeway. 
 
 At least eight LAPD patrol cars trailed the suspect as helicopters tracked his movements. 
 
 The man continued onto the eastbound 60 Freeway, but as he exited the freeway in Montebello, the vehicle he apparently carjacked was hemmed in by heavy traffic. 
 
 After exiting the car, he was pursued on foot by about a dozen officers. After he brandished a gun and tried to carjack a second car, as many as three officers opened fire at him, Preciado said. 
 
 It's unclear how many bullets struck the suspect. A throng of officers surrounded him as he was arrested near Via Campo and Garfield Avenue. 
 
 A semiautomatic firearm was recovered at the scene. 
 
 For breaking news in California, follow @MattHjourno and @LACrimes. ||||| LOS ANGELES – A man in his mid-20s was in custody today and facing charges including car theft and felony evasion after a vehicle pursuit that ended near Los Angeles Police Department headquarters. 
 
 The 22-minute pursuit of the stolen Honda Civic began in West Los Angeles around 10:05 p.m. Thursday and ended with two police cruisers slowing and then stopping the vehicle on West First Street, between City Hall and the headquarters building. 
 
 Broadcast footage of the pursuit showed the Honda being driven on sidewalks and weaving in and out of near-stalled traffic on the northbound lanes of the Harbor (110) Freeway. 
 
 LAPD Sgt. Brian Cook said the vehicle was reported stolen Thursday from San Gabriel. 
 
 Two female passengers were taken into custody at the end of the pursuit, along with the driver. Cook said he did not know if the passengers would be booked as well. ||||| A “maniac” carjacker has been caught live on television leading police on high-speed chase through the streets of Los Angeles, carjacking a vehicle at gunpoint and crashing at least six times. 
 
 The spree during Monday’s evening rush hour only stopped when the suspect failed to steal a third car that sped away and was shot in the road by police. He is under arrest in hospital. 
 
 It started shortly after 5pm local time in downtown LA, when police tried to pull over the man because he was driving a car listed as stolen. 
 
 But he drove away, starting the chase that would continue through the city and its suburbs, the LA Times reported. 
 
 Footage captured by a helicopter and broadcast on live television showed the car speeding at around 60mph up a three-lane motorway, crashing several times at junctions before veering over pavements and into oncoming traffic on the wrong side of the road. 
 
 The car skidded and started spinning, hitting several other vehicles before coming to a stop in the middle of the road. 
 
 The driver is seen jumping out of the crushed and smoking car before trying to carjack another vehicle, which sped away from him, and pulling what appeared to be a gun on the driver in the car behind it. 
 
 The suspected carjacker fleeing a crashed car 
 
 The footage shows onlookers at the side of the road running away as a woman is thrown out of the car and the gunman speeds off down a side street. 
 
 The woman, later identified as 22-year-old Elizabeth Yarahuan, told KABC-TV Channel 7: “He just came up to me and pointed the gun at me and told me to get out of my car. I was just scared he was going to hurt me.” 
 
 At least eight LAPD cars and helicopters tracked the suspect as the chase continued on several motorways until heavy traffic in Montebello stopped the suspect’s escape. 
 
 Stuck between stationary cars, cameras captured him jumping out of his vehicle and attempting to hijack two more. 
 
 Police attempt to stop the driver as he speeds off again 
 
 But as the second driver resisted and drove away, police running after the suspect on shot him as he fled down the road. He was handcuffed on the ground and taken to hospital in an ambulance. 
 
 Last night, the suspect was alive in hospital being treated for “multiple” gunshot wounds. 
 
 “This individual acted with a complete disregard for other people's lives,” Los Angeles Police Department Commander Andy Smith told the LA Times. 
 
 “He callously put innocent people's lives in danger, even after the police backed off the pursuit and tracked with the helicopter. Thank God no one was killed by this maniac.”
– It hasn't been a good week for drivers in LA leading police on high-speed chases. Early yesterday evening, one suspect led cops on a 100mph pursuit through the streets of Hollywood before unsuccessfully trying to escape on foot, the Los Angeles Times reports. Then three other suspects apparently wanted to get in the game, speeding along in a green Honda Civic that had been reported stolen and outmaneuvering cop cars and a police helicopter until they ended up in probably the last place they wanted: right in front of LAPD headquarters on First Street in downtown LA. That's where it all fell apart for the racing rebels. Police pulled a PIT move—that awesome tactic often witnessed on cop TV shows where the squad car drives parallel to the "target" car until it can bang into it and force it to skid out, as per Wise Geek—and the car came to a halt. A male suspect in his 20s was booked on car theft and felony evasion charges, and two female passengers were brought into custody after the 22-minute chase, though it's not clear if they'll face charges as well, the Los Angeles Daily News reports. "It's almost comical that it happened to end right in front of our office," an LAPD officer tells the Times. "I can see it from our window."