California woman struck by stolen vehicle rammed by police during pursuit

A stolen vehicle rammed by Torrance, California, police during a pursuit struck a woman as she crossed the street.

Maria Salazar was carrying grocery bags and walking in a crosswalk at Vermont Avenue and Sepulveda Boulevard in Los Angeles’ Harbor City area Thursday when she was hit, NBC Los Angeles reported.

“I was crossing the street, and I don’t remember anything,” she told Telemundo52. “I just felt the impact.”

Salazar was not seriously injured.

Officers with the Torrance Police Department were pursuing a suspect involved in two carjackings.

The first call about a carjacking came in around 12:50 p.m. when Torrance police were advised by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department that they were in pursuit of a suspect who had allegedly stolen several cars, Torrance police said in a news release.

The sheriff’s department said the suspect had entered the city of Torrance.

Torrance police said that the suspect entered a parking structure at the Del Amo Fashion Center and allegedly carjacked a woman. Officers spotted the suspect driving the woman’s stolen Prius as the suspect left the mall, according to authorities.

The suspect “failed to yield to Torrance police officers in marked black and white police vehicles.” Because the suspect had allegedly been involved in two carjackings and there was a threat to the public, officers initiated a pursuit, Torrance police said.

During the chase, a Torrance officer “intervened and struck the suspect vehicle near Vermont and Sepulveda, which struck a pedestrian,” the department said.

The pedestrian declined treatment at the scene, police said.

NBC Los Angeles reported that Salazar was knocked to the ground but got up and walked home. She later went to the hospital to get checked out.

The suspect was arrested following a brief foot pursuit and released to the custody of the sheriff’s department.