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Breaking News

California Highway Patrol in Standoff with Motorist

Aired July 05, 2002 - 10:35   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A little bit of breaking news just coming in to us now. Live pictures, you are looking at the southbound lane of Highway 101, the 101 which is a main artery north and south in the Bay Area, San Francisco to San Jose, where this morning a standoff is underway between police, primarily the California Highway Patrol, and a motorist, but details as to why this occurred a bit sketchy at this point.

We do know this. It began in Livermore on the other side of the Bay. California Highway Patrol officers stopped to help what appeared to be a disabled driver -- a disabled car. The car sped off. A high- speed chase occurred in excess of 100 miles an hour, across the Bay Bridge. The chase ended on the 101 south in Palo Alto, when police used a device to puncture the car's tires. The tires are now flat, the car disabled.

Currently, the driver is locked in his car with a passenger, and he is pouring gasoline on the inside, we're told by authorities. We're not sure if this is a hostage situation. Police, obviously, giving him a rather wide berth right now as they try to understand exactly what is going on inside that car. We are watching it very closely for you as you look at these live pictures, courtesy of KTVU. At the very least, this is going to be a tremendous traffic problem in the Bay Area today. Kind of a light traffic day after the holiday, many people taking the day off.

Nevertheless, police responding now to this standoff, trying to figure out what to do next after what began as what seemed to be a disabled vehicle turned into high-speed chase. Now a disabled vehicle, thanks to the California Highway Patrol's puncturing techniques of the vehicle's tires. As we say, perhaps most ominously, the driver appears to be spreading gasoline around inside the vehicle as we speak. We will stay on this story for you and get you more as it becomes available and as we loose that live signal, we'll get another signal for you shortly.

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