Cops ram carjacked vehicle, which spins and slams into 66-year-old woman crossing street, sending her flying into curb

Video caught the moment police in Torrance, California, rammed a carjacked vehicle, which went into a spin and slammed into a 66-year-old woman carrying grocery bags across a street Thursday, sending her flying into a curb.

What are the details?

The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department told Torrance police around 12:50 p.m. that deputies were chasing a carjacking suspect who had stolen several cars, according to a City of Torrance news release, and that the suspect had entered Torrance. Torrance is about a half-hour southwest of Los Angeles.

Torrance police learned a minute later that the suspect entered a parking structure at the Del Amo Fashion Center — and around 12:55 p.m., a woman reported a carjacking near the area where the pursuit suspect was last seen.

Police around that time said they spotted a male suspect driving the carjacked vehicle — a silver Prius — as it left the Del Amo Fashion Center, and police said they began chasing the driver.

Video shows the fleeing driver speeding on the wrong side of the street and going through stoplights before hopping a curb and knocking down a pole, KNBC-TV reported.

Police said a Torrance officer struck the vehicle near Vermont Avenue and Sepulveda Boulevard, and the vehicle in turn struck a pedestrian. Video shows the pedestrian flying backward into a curb after she was struck.

After a brief foot pursuit, police said they arrested the suspect without incident and released him to the custody of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which was the originating agency.

Police said Torrance officers spoke to the carjacking victim and the woman who was struck at the intersection and that no serious injuries were reported at the time. Police added that the woman who was struck refused emergency medical services treatment at the scene and departed voluntarily. Torrance police said they were later told she went to a hospital.

Woman who was struck and her daughter speak out

"I was crossing the street, and I don’t remember anything," Maria Salazar, the woman who was struck, told Telemundo52, according to KNBC. "I just felt the impact."

Salazar's daughter, Diana, said she's still trying to figure out things, KNBC noted: "I don't know why they were chasing him. The urgency of stopping him. I don't know if they saw my mom."

Torrance police added to KNBC that all officers are trained in PIT maneuvers. The acronym stands for Precision Immobilization Technique, which "consists of applying lateral pressure to the rear quarter panel of the fleeing target vehicle resulting in a predictable spin-out action of the target vehicle." Police did not indicate in the news release that a PIT maneuver occurred.

The carjacking suspect's identity, along with other details about him, were not immediately available, KNBC noted.

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