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An alleged car thief in Los Angeles pulled off his best “Grand Theft Auto” video game impression to elude police on Thursday. One day later, police are still in search of both the vehicle and the driver.
Video from local news station KCAL-TV shows the driver piloting the vehicle through the dried-up Rio Hondo riverbed before they turned and drove the utility truck into a storm drain.
Almost like a scene from a movie or video game, the car then disappears entirely from sight as the baffled news anchors looked on and wondered what happens next.
According to an update from a separate news station, FOX 11, the service tunnel that the driver disappeared into was near the Rio Hondo Canal at Washington and Paramount boulevards.
As of 8 p.m. local time last night, there had been no sight of the vehicle or the driver. Police reportedly refused to follow the driver into the service tunnel as it would have created a safety issue for any officers involved.
LA Car Chase Ends With Escape That Amuses Video Gamers And Movie Watchers Alike
Of course, amused viewers on social media were quick to compare the situation to the famous “Grand Theft Auto” video game series.
“All he gotta do is wait till them stars go away and he good,” one person wrote.
“Bro I’ve played a lot of GTA. Homeboy is gone if he plays his cards right,” said another.
Similarly, others compared the scene to one in the movie “The Italian Job” where the protagonists drive Mini Coopers through storm drains and into a similarly dried-up Los Angeles riverbed in order to escape pursuers.
Now, maybe the person involved in the real-life chase was well researched and wanted to see if these escapes worked in real life. Maybe this was just a desperate last attempt to evade arrest and it somehow seemingly worked.
But either way, it’s one of the crazier ways you’ll ever see a car chase conclude.