Pursuit Ends in Multi-Car Crash

A Woodland Hills man was arrested Friday night after leading police in a car chase that began on the eastbound 101 Freeway at Las Virgenes Road and ended with a crash in Northridge, injuring six people, authorities said.

Rene Barrantes, 57,  was booked into jail on suspicion of reckless driving, evading a police officer, driving under the influence, and driving with a suspended license, according to a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department statement.

The statement said the chase began after deputies at the  received a tip from a motorist around 8 p.m. that a car was being driven erratically near Las Virgenes and Lost Hills roads.

A few minutes later, a sheriff's field sergeant reported spotting a 2010 Mazda sedan swerving through traffic as it entered the eastbound 101 Freeway on-ramp at Las Virgenes Road. The car pulled over after the sergeant activated his patrol car's red lights and siren, but then sped off as the sergeant approached the vehicle on foot, the statement said.

The sergeant, joined by another patrol deputy, pursued the car and caught up to it at the White Oak off-ramp after maneuvering through heavy traffic. The deputies turned on their sirens, but the car continued westbound onto Victory Boulevard and then headed northbound on Reseda Boulevard, where it ran five to six red lights, the statement said.

The car crashed into four vehicles on eastbound Nordhoff Street, just west of Balboa Boulevard, trapping Barrantes in his car and injuring six people, the statement said. Barrantes was taken to Northridge Hospital Medical Center, where he was listed in critical but stable condition, according to a local Fox News report.

City News Service was also used in compiling this report.