Motorcyclist reportedly shot on 405 Freeway in Torrance; investigation snarls traffic for hours
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As traffic on the 405 Freeway in southern Los Angeles was being diverted in both directions Tuesday morning, a Torrance police officer called his dispatcher to report a traffic stop when a motorcycle officer he was accompanying stopped in the left-hand lane of the freeway to flag down a person who was walking on the right-hand shoulder.
The officer and the motorcycle officer approached the person and the bike that was stopped, according to Torrance Police Sgt. Joe Fritsche.
Once the officer was in front of the person’s motorcycle, which was facing the opposite direction as the traffic, the suspect got off and took off, Fritsche said. The suspect then started driving south over the 405 Freeway toward Torrance.
The motorcycle unit officer caught up with the suspect and made contact with him. He was on the side of the freeway, Fritsche said, and a road was being closed and blocked off in both directions at that time.
The man on the side of the freeway tried to run away, but was caught and detained by the motorcycle officer, who was positioned on the side of the freeway, Fritsche said.
The suspect — described as being about 30 or 40 years old — was arrested for felony evading, Fritsche said. He was taken into custody by the Torrance Police Department and transported to a local hospital for a follow-up exam and hospitalization for observation, he said.
The officer who was on that side of the freeway got out of the vehicle he had been in and attempted to apprehend the suspect, but the driver got away, according to Fritsche.
The suspect, who was in a black sweatshirt and dark jogging pants, and was driving a black four-seat motorcycle with sidecar — an accessory for motorcycles used for carrying cargo or passengers who aren’