West Hollywood experienced more than its normal level of drama today with the arrests of drivers of two stolen cars, one of which crashed into a Metro bus.
The first incident occurred around 10:30 a.m. at the intersection of La Brea and Fountain Avenues. A man driving a Mercedes-Benz collided with a Metro bus carrying more than a dozen passengers.
Sheriff’s Deputy Frank Diana said the man was arrested on the scene. Diana said there is no suggestion of serious injury to any of the bus passengers.
A somewhat more dramatic incident occurred around noon today when Sheriff’s deputies and Los Angeles Police officers honed in on a man driving a stolen BMW on Hancock Avenue just north of Santa Monica Boulevard.
That incident drew a small crowd because of the helicopter hovering overhead and a group of officers with rifles and pistols drawn who arrested the driver.
The capture was executed by members of TRAP (Taskforce for Regional Autotheft Prevention). TRAP is a collaborative effort by the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department and the Los Angeles Police Department. Deputy Diana said the officers were able to track the man because the car had a lojack installed, which is a device that emits a GPS tracking signal.
LoJack is not a GPS device. It uses Radio Frequency as a homing signal. It is much more reliable than GPS when it comes to stolen vehicle recovery. Please edit your description of the device in the future. You can visit LoJack.com to learn more.
The Helicopter did scare me for a moment or two