 MONTEBELLO, Calif. (AP) — A gunman driving a suspected stolen car led police on a wild chase on roads and freeways east of Los Angeles, smashing into other cars and veering through oncoming traffic before he stole a second car at gunpoint and ran down a crowded street before Los Angeles police opened fire, wounded him and finally arrested him. Officers shot the man as he ran on a roadway and appeared to be trying to steal yet another car before he was handcuffed and taken to a hospital in an ambulance, police spokeswoman Rosario Herrera said. He collided with at least six vehicles and forced a 22-year-old woman out of her car at gunpoint, police said. 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. 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. 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. 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.
– A suspect was shot several times and arrested last night after a car chase that was wild even by Los Angeles standards. Police say that after the armed man they describe as a "maniac" was spotted driving a suspected stolen car east of downtown, he sped through traffic, sometimes on the wrong side of the road, and hit at least four other cars as he was pursued through southeast Los Angeles County, the AP reports. With the chase being broadcast live on TV, the suspect crashed the first vehicle and carjacked another before speeding off. After becoming trapped in traffic, cameras captured the man fleeing on foot and attempting to hijack two more vehicles before he was shot by officers pursuing him, reports the Independent. "This individual acted with a complete disregard for other people's lives," a police spokesman tells the Los Angeles 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." Another police spokesman says the suspect is in the hospital with multiple gunshot wounds. The 22-year-old woman who was carjacked says she's thankful her children weren't in the car. "He just came up to me and pointed the gun at me and told me to get out [of] my car. I unbuckled ... and opened the door and ran out," she tells CBS 2. "It was horrible." Police say that if the suspect survives, he'll be charged with multiple felonies.