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Suspected Purse Snatcher Leads Police On Chase

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) -- A wild, high speed chase hit 80 mph on the freeway, but the real danger began when the suspects got off I-80 at Reed Avenue.

The wild ride ended with a big bang at Sacramento Avenue and Jefferson Boulevard in West Sacramento. Police say two suspects in the stolen SUV slammed into a woman's car.

"And she was hit by the red car hard. It was so close the ground shook," said Melinda Kollman who witnessed the crash.

The collision took off a wheel of the SUV, causing it to slide out of control into bushes and barely miss a bus shelter.

Berry Denzel
Berry Denzel (credit: West Sacramento Police Dept.)

"Yeah, it was like an explosion of dirt from the ground," said Kollman.

The pair ran off, but it didn't take long for police to catch them.

"And some force had to be used. I don't know to what level yet. They did resist police," said West Sacramento Police Lt. Ted Sockman.

The 20-year-old driver, Berry Denzel, was cuffed and is in custody along with his 17-year-old passenger. They're suspects in a purse snatching. Investigators say they robbed a shopper at gunpoint at the Costco in Citrus Heights.

A witness followed on the phone with 9-1-1 leading officers right to them. That's when the chase began on I-80 until the driver took the Reed Avenue exit.

The chase was captured on a cell phone camera. It was a potentially deadly end to what was already a violent crime.

The woman who was hit during the chase was taken to the hospital, but we're told she doesn't have any major injuries.

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