LOS ANGELES, CA — A late-night police pursuit in Los Angeles ended with a black Ford Mustang wedged in bushes outside a Sherman Oaks home after officers used spike strips to stop it. The chase unfolded just after 1 a.m. on November 5 and moved through the San Fernando Valley before coming to an abrupt halt on a residential street.
According to reporting by City News Service, officers first tried to stop the car near Sepulveda Boulevard and Saticoy Street. The driver kept going, entering Interstate 405 and later turning onto Mulholland Drive, where the winding road created a tense and highly visible chase. By the time it was over, the car had suffered major front-end damage and airbags had deployed.
How the chase moved from the Valley to Mulholland Drive
The pursuit began around 1:02 a.m., when Los Angeles police began following the Mustang in the San Fernando Valley. From there, the driver headed onto the 405 freeway before making the turn onto Mulholland Drive, a route known for its sharp curves, narrow sections, and sweeping views over the city.
Reports differed on how fast the car was traveling. Key News Network said speeds reached about 50 mph on Mulholland Drive, while other accounts placed the chase as high as 80 mph. Even without a record-breaking top speed, the combination of late-night darkness, twisting pavement, and roadside homes made the pursuit dangerous for officers and anyone nearby.
At one point, police lost sight of the Mustang. Another unit later found it east of Beverly Glen Boulevard, keeping the chase active as officers narrowed in on the car’s route through the hills.
Spike strips brought the Mustang to a stop
Officers ultimately used spike strips near Mulholland Drive and Beverly Glen Boulevard. The device punctured the Mustang’s tires and changed the direction of the chase from a fast-moving escape attempt to a damaged car struggling to keep going.
The pursuit ended around 1:28 a.m. when the driver crashed into bushes outside a home in the 3400 block of Woodcliff Road in Sherman Oaks. The car’s front end took heavy damage, and the airbags deployed after impact. What had started as a moving chase through the Valley finished as a mangled vehicle stuck in landscaping at the edge of a residential property.
Police and emergency crews then moved in at the crash site. One man was taken to a hospital, though the records do not make clear whether he was the driver or another person involved in the arrest.
The driver tried to run again after the crash
After the Mustang hit the bushes, the driver reportedly got out and tried to flee on foot. That effort did not last long. According to Key News Network, he collapsed while complaining of injuries, ending his attempt to escape a second time.
He was taken into custody after the crash and is expected to face a felony evading charge, according to the reporting available so far. Authorities have not yet publicly settled every detail of the case, including the exact charges tied to the chase or the driver’s identity.
The crash also raised questions about whether the car had been stolen, but early accounts conflict on that point. Los Angeles police have been asked to clarify the vehicle’s status and the full sequence of charges connected to the pursuit.
A passenger’s prison claim added a strange coda
The passenger in the Mustang gave officers one of the more unusual post-crash comments from the scene. He told them he had recently been released from prison for felony evading and insisted the driver would not have been caught if he had been behind the wheel.
Footage captured by Key News Network included the passenger saying, “If I was driving, you wouldn’t have caught me, I swear to God.” He also reportedly told police, “I’ll wear you guys out.” His account of his past and his confidence behind the wheel have not been independently verified.
The passenger was detained at the scene, though his final custody status was not immediately clear. The exchange added a strange final note to a pursuit that already had an almost cartoonish ending: a Mustang, spike strips, a hillside crash, and a passenger arguing that he knew a better way to make the getaway work.
Why the crash quickly became another Mustang moment online
For many car enthusiasts, the scene fit into a long-running internet stereotype about Mustang drivers and bad outcomes at the wheel. The car’s reputation has been built over years of viral clips showing drivers losing control, clipping curbs, or ending up in places a performance car should not be.
That joke is not especially fair to the vehicle itself. Modern Mustangs are capable performance cars, and this one had already been disabled by police before it reached the bushes. Even so, another Mustang ending up in roadside landscaping was exactly the kind of image that tends to travel quickly online.
Commenters were quick to lean into the familiar meme, with one writing that it was only a matter of time before the Mustang did “the usual Mustang thing.” In this case, the chase delivered both a real police arrest and the kind of image social media users instantly recognize.
What remains unclear after the Sherman Oaks arrest
Some pieces of the incident have not yet been fully sorted out publicly. Besides the question of whether the car was stolen, City News Service reported a separate collision near the arrest location, though the circumstances and vehicles involved were not immediately clear. No injuries were reported in connection with that additional crash.
Police have not released all details about the driver, the passenger, or the full list of charges that could follow. For now, the confirmed outcome is straightforward: the Mustang was disabled, the driver was arrested, and the passenger’s boast became part of the story.
The chase also served as another reminder of how quickly a short, late-night pursuit can move from routine police action to a scene that people remember for the visuals. In this case, the image was a battered Mustang in the bushes, a hillside road behind it, and a very confident passenger in custody.
