Suspects with gun lead police on pursuit to Venice Boardwalk

Police on Thursday afternoon were searching the Venice Boardwalk area after two suspects with a handgun crashed their vehicle into a parked car as they led officers on a pursuit that began in Santa Monica.

The incident began about 2:15 p.m. at a Vons parking lot near Lincoln Boulevard in Santa Monica when officers responded to a theft report, police said.

The two men confronted a store employee with a handgun and fled in their vehicle as officers arrived, Santa Monica police said.

With officers following, the men smashed into a car and drove into Venice, where one of them bailed out of the vehicle near the boardwalk, Sgt Richard Lewis said.

The driver went back to Santa Monica, where he was apprehended on 25th Street near the Santa Monica Airport. A woman was taken into custody in the Vons parking lot in connection with the initial theft report, Lewis said.

A Los Angeles Police Department helicopter was flying over Venice Beach as officers searched for the suspect.

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--Andrew Blankstein (twitter.com/anblanx) and Robert J. Lopez (twitter.com/LAJourno)