You don’t see many Toyota Crowns in regular traffic, but if you happened to be in Los Angeles on Friday night you may have seen one getting chased by LAPD down Hollywood Blvd.
The theft happened around 11:20 p.m. on September 14 at Toyota of Hollywood. LAPD officers responded to reports of a break in and found the suspect still inside the dealership. Officers ordered him to come out, but instead he managed to get into the dealer’s lockbox and grabbed the keys to a white Toyota Crown. What happened next is probably the most excitement any Crown will ever see.
Video from the scene shows the suspect using the Crown to ram and break through a chain-link fence and then a sturdier metal fence as he makes a break for it. During the chase, police attempted to stop the suspect using both spike strips and the PIT maneuver, but both of those failed.
A short time later the suspect and the Crown ended up at a Lamborghini dealership in Beverly Hills. He managed to break into that dealership (hey, go with what you know) and barricaded himself inside for over an hour. Eventually police were able to get in and take him into custody.
The Toyota Crown is still fresh on Toyota dealer lots. Not many have been sold since its debut though— Q2 sales were just 6,155—but if you’re considering one, take into account that it’ll make a decent getaway car. Its looks don’t really give up the fact that you can get the Crown with up to 340 horsepower and 400 lb-ft of torque. Plus, since its a hybrid ,the suspect could have led police on a much longer chase.
