Car Stolen At Palos Verdes Mall Touches Off Two-County Pursuit, Arrest

A car thief who made off with a bright red Chevy Equinox from Walnut Creek’s Palos Verdes Mall found himself the object of police attention during an ensuing high-speed pursuit down Interstate 680, a secondary attempted carjacking and his eventual arrest in Hayward.

This site began following the daylight chase shortly after news of the theft began to spread at roughly 11:50 a.m. Witnesses reported a “heavy set” Hispanic male making off with the car at about that time, quickly steering onto southbound I680 and – after some maneuvering on local surface streets – out westbound Highway 580 and eventually into Hayward.

Police said the unidentified car thief crashed or incapacitated the Equinox on a Hayward street and, as a TV news crew recorded from a helicopter hovering over the scene, jumped like a stagecoach robber onto the trunk of a white BMW convertible that had pulled alongside.

The thief clambered into the backseat and apparently attempted to gain control of the car from the 26-year-old driver, who opted to drive the car a short distance before officers were able to stop the BMW and make the arrest.

Remarkably, no one was seriously hurt during the incident.