A two-hour high-speed chase that started in Huntington Beach and ended
in northern San Diego County resulted in a woman's arrest and a hospital
visit last week.
Louise Best, 31, of Torrance, allegedly stole a 1993 Ford Expedition
from a Long Beach residence and then led police on a chase into Northern
San Diego County, said Lt. Chuck Thomas of the Huntington Beach Police
Department.
During a routine traffic stop at 11:30 p.m. on Sept. 11. near the
intersection of Robinwood Drive and Bolsa Chica Road, police discovered
Best in the stolen vehicle.
The chase ended when she crashed into a traffic sign going southbound
on the Golden State Freeway at 1:30 a.m. Sept. 12 near the Manchester
Boulevard offramp in Cardiff by the Sea in northern San Diego County.
Best received minor injuries from the collision, but was treated at
Scripps Memorial Hospital of La Jolla for severe self-inflicted knife
cuts to her wrists and neck.
Police said Best got out of the vehicle, but then got back in and
began "slashing herself on the arms and neck in an apparent attempt to
kill herself."
San Diego Sheriff's officers tried to get Best to give up the knife
and finally fired pepper spray into the vehicle when she refused to
comply.
No one else was in the car with Best.
Police do not believe alcohol was involved, they said.
Best was booked at the Las Colinas Detention Center in Santee on Sept.
12 for auto theft, evading officers and residential burglary. She was
released Sept. 14.
