A fiery accident is followed by a police chase

SAN LEANDRO – A police chase after a burglary suspect in a stolen automobile ended early Tuesday with a violent crash at the top of a freeway ramp, police said.

The chase began when the vehicle struck the overpass wall and a pole on the twenty ninth Avenue exit from northbound Interstate 880, San Leandro police spokesman Lt. Abe Teng said in a press release. The impact caused the stolen vehicle to catch fire and develop into fully engulfed in flames, but all three occupants were capable of exit the vehicle before that happened, Teng said.

Officers responded to reports of a automobile break-in within the 700 block of Donovan Drive around 2:30 a.m. Teng said officers spotted a vehicle matching the outline of the suspects' vehicle and followed it because it headed north from the Davis Street on-ramp onto I-880.

After the crash, the driving force and passenger ran from the scene and managed to flee, Teng said. Officers arrested the passenger within the back seat, but Teng said police released him after paramedics treated him on the scene. No witness was capable of clearly discover the person as being directly involved within the carjacking or the theft of the vehicle, in accordance with Teng.

Teng said the suspects broke into two vehicles situated within the 700 and 800 blocks of Donovan, but officers were unable to find out what was stolen.

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