Police pursuit in South LA ends in fatal crash

LOS ANGELES - A bicyclist was killed after a short police chase ended in a multi-vehicle crash Wednesday, according to police. 

The pursuit began at approximately 6:18 a.m. when officers from the Newton Area responded to a report of a car burglary at a gas station near Gage and Broadway. The suspect, identified Thursday as Germaine Smith, driving a gold Chevrolet Suburban, was reportedly tracked by a victim using an electronic device stolen from her vehicle.

Officers with the Los Angeles Police Department located the suspect in the gold Suburban parked at 48th and Central. Upon attempting to pull over the suspect, the suspect accelerated southbound on Central Avenue, prompting officers to initiate a pursuit.

The chase continued through several streets until the suspect collided with a male cyclist crossing Hooper Avenue and 46th Street in South Los Angeles. The impact caused the cyclist, identified as Jose David Monsalve Rojas, 46, to crash into a parked vehicle, resulting in fatal injuries.

Despite the collision, the suspect continued driving, striking parked and moving vehicles until his vehicle crashed into a telephone pole at Hooper Avenue and 45th Street. The suspect then attempted to flee on foot but was apprehended by police.

Smith was arrested for felony evading an officer causing death, with bail set at $150,000 plus additional warrants totaling $327,000.

During the investigation, a bag containing cash, an electronic device, and multiple identification cards belonging to different individuals were found in the suspect's vehicle.

Some of the eight other vehicles that were hit during the collision were occupied, according to detectives on the scene, but no one required medical attention.

"That's not the way. Look at what happened. A person had to die because of that [pursuit]," one neighbor said. 

Roads in the area were closed during the investigation but have since reopened.