RivCo Carjacker Who Crashed Through Crowd, Injuring 10, Held On $10M Bail: LA DA

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — A Riverside County man accused of carjacking a driver at knifepoint and fleeing police into a Culver City crowd one week ago has been charged with 10 counts of attempted murder, one count of carjacking, evading police and felony hit-and-run, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office says.

Juan Luis Estrada, 45 of Perris, faces more than a dozen charges after the June 16 vehicle pursuit into downtown Los Angeles, according to Culver City Police spokesperson Jennifer Atenza.

On Tuesday, June 16, in the early afternoon, Estrada was in Downtown Los Angeles when he carjacked a person at knifepoint, according to the Culver City Police Department. He then drove to Culver City and crashed into several cars and vehicles, according to security camera video from the police, according to Atenza. The video shows a driver, believed to be Estrada, driving between two gas stations and ramming people at random with the stolen car, she said.

"He seemed to be intentionally attempting to hit pedestrians throughout our city at a time when we have high pedestrian and vehicle traffic," said Jennifer Atenza, spokesperson for Culver City PD.

Police began chasing Estrada down after a victim reported his license plate number, which was later flagged by an automatic license plate reader.

Estrada then used the stolen vehicle to allegedly crash into more pedestrians as he led officers on a pursuit before crashing in a McDonald's drive-thru in downtown LA. His 10 victims were between the ages of 15 and 70 years old, according to Atenza's statements. An officer also sustained non-life-threatening injuries at the end of the pursuit.

The video shows that officers had to hogtie Estrada while they arrested him.

Estrada is currently being held in the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles in lieu of $10.25 million bail, according to jail records. His next court appearance is slated on July 6 at the Hollywood Superior Court.