The suspect who stole a roadside assistance truck from Beltsville, Maryland, and led officers on a chase through the suburbs of Washington, D.C. Friday evening has been identified, police say.
The suspect is Flavio Cesar Lanuza, 27, of Laurel, Maryland, the Maryland State Police said in a release on Saturday. He is facing multiple charges including vehicle theft and first-degree assault.
At about 5:15 p.m. Friday, the driver of a State Highway Administration tow truck went to someone's assistance at a park-and-ride off Interstate 95 in Beltsville when the suspect took off in the truck. It's unclear if the tow truck was called to the scene or flagged down.
The truck traveled onto the Beltway and hit at least three vehicles. Maryland State Police located the truck a short time later, and several police cruisers pursued it.
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Chopper4 was over the pursuit and filmed police appearing to try to corral the stolen truck in an empty parking lot at one point.
Lanuza then drove through a grassy area where the equipment on the back of the truck snagged some utility lines before the truck returned to the road, hitting more cars and driving into oncoming traffic.
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After turning around in a gas station, the truck drove head on at police, ramming the side of one cruiser and pushing it out of the way.
The truck hit at least 20 cars, civilian and police.
After about an hour, the chase ended in a wooded area near Burnt Mills Park in the White Oak area, but Lanuza, did not open the door.
Officers surrounded the vehicle with guns drawn and used their batons to smash both the driver and passenger side windows in order to pull the driver out and take him into custody.
“He was trying to pull forward but there was too much of a grade, of a hill, and he had no tires left,” Chopper4’s Tessa Hall said. “So he was going to get out, or he was going to get dragged out.”
Lanuza was taken to the hospital for his injuries.
