3 kids hurt in violent crash at the end of police chase in Malibu are out of the hospital
WESTWOOD, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- All three young boys who were taken to the hospital after a wild pursuit ended in a crash in Malibu on Friday have now been released.
The kids -- all under 10 years old -- were in their mother's car when the vehicle was stolen.
The carjacker then led law enforcement on a wild chase, which ended in a violent multi-vehicle crash at the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Kanan Dume Road in Malibu.
Police said before the chase, the mom went into an East Los Angeles 7-Eleven store, leaving her three kids in the car with the engine running. The children's father was parked next to them and was in his vehicle as the mother entered the store.
PREVIOUS REPORT: Car with 3 kids inside was stolen from 7-Eleven before dangerous chase, deputies say
That's when police said the suspect got into the woman's car and began to drive away. The father got out of his car and attempted to intervene, getting dragged a short distance by the suspect before falling to the ground. Deputies said he sustained injuries to his upper body.
Now, the parents are speaking to Eyewitness News about what has been an emotional rollercoaster.
They said they're just happy to have their children back with them and out of the hospital. They said the carjacking suspect ruined what should have been a nice start to their holiday weekend as a family.
"In every single one of us in the family, it's a trauma that we all have. We never imagined all of this would happen to us," the father said in Spanish.
The parents, who didn't want to show their family's faces on camera, took their middle child home from UCLA Children's Hospital with a cast around his right leg. The 7-year-old dislocated his hip from the impact.
The oldest child, a 9-year-old boy, suffered a small concussion, and their 2-year-old son received minor bruises around his stomach, the parents said. The family set up a GoFundMe page to pay for the boy's medical bills.
"Thank God my kids are doing better. We thank everyone for supporting us, everyone for donating to us," the mother said in Spanish. "And to the others wanting to help, we thank you. This was hard. I have no car now. It's what I used to drop them off at school."
The victims' cousin watched it all play out live on Friday evening.
"Just watching it live, the crash, it was just, you know, I just felt my heart clench," Katherine Tax said. "Justice is going to prevail, and what happened on Friday should never happen to any family.
The suspect fled the crash site on foot, running up a steep embankment and into a Malibu neighborhood. He was eventually arrested by California Highway Patrol officers. Deputies said the suspect was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Deputies said formal charges are pending. The suspect was not immediately identified.
