latest news Man with baby in car crash kills 1 in police chase

A 39-year-old driver wanted by federal authorities for a weapons violation led police on a short chase Tuesday night before ramming several vehicles in Long Beach and killing a woman in another car, authorities said.

Police say Chaz Lamar Long, of Antioch, Calif., jumped into the driver’s seat of a 2006 Lexus sedan that Seal Beach police pulled over for a traffic violation near Pacific Coast Highway and Marina Drive shortly before 8 p.m. Long was a passenger in the sedan, but while an officer conducted a background check on the female driver, he and the woman swapped seats and Long fled.

Authorities said a baby was also inside the vehicle.

Long refused to stop and briefly drove in the wrong direction on PCH, police said. At around 8:05 p.m., he rammed into several vehicles at PCH and 2nd Street in Long Beach, authorities said.

After the accident, Long tried to run away, but police used a Taser to arrest him, according to the Seal Beach Police Department. He was taken to hospital to treat injuries sustained in the crash, police said.

He was taken into custody by the Long Beach Police Department on an outstanding federal warrant for a weapons violation charge, authorities said.

The first female driver of the Lexus, a woman who has not yet been identified, was also injured in the accident. She and the baby inside the vehicle were taken to hospital as a precaution, police said. She was not arrested in connection with the traffic stop or the accident.

Six other people were also injured in the crash and taken to hospitals for treatment, authorities said. A woman in her 60s or 70s who was a passenger in one of the vehicles died at the scene, police said. She has not yet been identified by authorities.

Anyone with information about the chase or accident is asked to call Det. Joseph Johnson with the Long Beach Police Department at (562) 570-7355. Anonymous information can be provided through LA Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.