Two armed men hijack a big rig and multiple vehicles in a live-broadcast chase across Los Angeles

11 August 2025

A police chase involving two suspects accused of carjacking took place in Los Angeles on Aug. 10. Credit : FOX 11 Los Angeles

Sunday night in Los Angeles cracked open like a living thriller as two men allegedly sparked a brazen crime spree that unfolded under the unblinking lens of live television cameras. What began as a typical call about a carjacking in Lancaster quickly morphed into a city‑spanning spectacle, a relentless pursuit involving multiple stolen vehicles, gunfire, freeway wrong‑way driving, and a final disappearance into the labyrinth of L.A. neighborhoods.

The drama ignited late in the evening when the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department received reports of a pickup truck being stolen at gunpoint in Lancaster. Climbing into this stolen dark‑colored pickup, the suspects cut loose on the 5 Freeway near Sylmar, and from there, chaos swelled.

As the chase unfolded, the suspects were seen trying to break into other vehicles after pinning them in traffic. Both attempts failed spectacularly. Then, in a move that robbed headlines of their breath, the men carjacked a white big rig a tanker truck, by all accounts during the live newscast. The big rig was not carrying hazardous materials; most reports suggest it was a milk transport truck. Miraculously, its original driver escaped uninjured while the fugitives commandeered the massive vehicle and continued down the freeway.

Authorities now cautioned that the suspects were armed and dangerous, urging residents in the area to exercise extreme caution. The chase, now teeming with panic and adrenaline, surged across L.A. County, threading through Sylmar, Santa Clarita, North Hollywood, Hollywood Hills, Echo Park, Westlake, Boyle Heights, and even into downtown. At one point, the suspects veered into the wrong lanes on the 10 Freeway, plunging into oncoming traffic and escalating the danger.

About thirty minutes into the pursuit, the suspects abandoned the tanker truck in downtown Los Angeles and bolted into a stolen white pickup truck, then circled high rises as though daring the city to catch up. In Boyle Heights, they switched seats in plain view of bystanders before hopping into yet another car a black sedan which they ultimately fled in.

Local news outlets like FOX 11, ABC7, NBC4, and CBS covered every pulse‑pounding second. Cameras captured the men driving on the wrong side of the freeway, attempting to break into vehicles, and finally hoisting themselves into the semi during the live chase. Despite the notoriety and visibility of their actions, no arrests had been made by late Sunday night. Law enforcement’s net remained open as the city went on high alert.

What started as a local robbery spiraled into an hour-long urban thriller, riveting television audiences and reminding Angelenos how quickly the boundaries between daily life and chaos can blur. Freeway traffic halted, alarms sounded, and viewers watched as a reality better left to fiction played out on their screens. The suspects remain at large and a stark warning hangs in the air: in L.A., anywhere can become the stage for dramatic and dangerous turns in an instant.