Pursuit, arrest of attempted murder suspect closes 405 south in Sepulveda Pass

An attempted murder suspect was taken into custody early Tuesday at the end of a 90-minute chase that mainly took place on the southbound San Diego (405) Freeway in the Sepulveda Pass.

Police identified the driver in the bizarre chase, which varied from low to high speeds to complete stops, as 32-year-old Marcos Tulio Flores, who they described as a documented gang member with a history of violence. Flores is suspected of shooting and critically wounding his 36-year-old sister-in-law early Sunday morning in the 17500 block of Gilmore Street in Van Nuys, the LAPD said.

He was booked Tuesday morning in Van Nuys on suspicion of attempted murder and was being held at the Inmate Reception Center in downtown Los Angeles in lieu of $2 million bail, according to sheriff's inmate records.

The chase began around 10:45 p.m. Monday in the Reseda area, said Officer Mike Lopez of the Los Angeles Police Department's Media Relations Unit. It began when officers started following Flores' vehicle, which matched the description of the one connected to Sunday's shooting.

Police said Flores was armed during the chase, and he appeared to fire in the direction of officers at least once. Police returned fire, shooting out the rear window of the car but the suspect kept going. No one was injured during the exchange of gunfire, police said.

The suspect led police on an erratic chase that caused the 405 to be shut down in both directions at one point. He was finally taken into custody on the southbound freeway in the Sepulveda Pass area by SWAT officers who used a pit maneuver to stop the vehicle, and beanbag rounds and a police dog to subdue him.

"He's a very dangerous individual, which is why we brought in the vehicles that we did to conduct that pit maneuver, (along with) the Special Weapons and Tactics officers who have special training and ... special equipment to deal with armed suspects,'' LAPD Detective Meghan Aguilar said.

"We knew there had been an officer-involved shooting, we knew that (he was) a suspect in an attempted murder, (a) very dangerous individual,'' Aguilar said. "We needed to take every precaution.''

There were no reports of injuries to civilians or officers in the chase, police said.

Investigators recovered a gun that the suspect threw from the vehicle, police said, but officers continued looking for evidence connected with the chase after daybreak.

Flores was taken to the hospital to be treated for a dog bite, the LAPD's Josh Rubenstein said.

The victim in Sunday's shooting was shot in her upper body and remains hospitalized in critical condition, police said. A motive for the shooting has not been disclosed.

The southbound 405, from the Hollywood (101) Freeway interchange to Sunset Boulevard, remained closed until around 6:30 a.m. while an investigation was conducted, the CHP reported.

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