Police and paramedics responded to three different incidents’a police pursuit, a suicide and a 911 call’between 3 and 4 p.m. on Tuesday, June 9, leading one Palisadian to remark, ‘I’ve never seen so many police cars in the Palisades.’ o o o The police pursuit started at Bowdoin Street and Temescal Canyon Road, when school police observed a Cadillac Escalade being driven erratically and tried to pull the car over. The 15-year-old male driver turned left onto Sunset and raced down the boulevard at an estimated 70 mph. At Las Lomas, he hit a pole and then sheared off a fire hydrant. Undeterred, the youth turned onto local streets and came back out on Sunset at Almar Avenue, running a stop sign and striking a silver Honda, driven by a 84-year-old female. Her 81-year-male passenger suffered minor injuries and was transported to the UCLA Trauma Center as a precaution. ‘The driver being chased almost broadsided me at Bienveneda and Sunset as he ran through the red light,’ reader Tracey Davis-Kempka e-mailed the Palisadian-Post. The juvenile, who is not from the Palisades, was finally stopped by police at Las Casas Place, where he was arrested and charged with felony evasion of the police. Additional charges may be filed, including driving without a license, speeding and driving on the wrong side of the road. o o o Fire Station 23 responded to a call at Palisades Circle at 3:50 p.m. and found Robert Popa, 41, dead, an apparent suicide. A spokesperson for the L.A. County Coroner’s office confirmed that Popa died of a self-inflicted gunshot. Popa, who was going through a divorce, had been arrested in a domestic violence dispute on June 2. He was reported missing on June 3, and leaves behind a five-year-old son. o o o Five patrol cars responded to a 911 call about screams coming from a residence in the 1000 block of Monument Street. Shortly after the investigation began, Station 69 paramedics were summoned. ‘There are no criminal charges,’ a police officer said. ‘This person is being transported because she can’t take care of herself.’
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