POLICE CHASE PROVES BAD FOR BUSINESS AT BEVERLY CENTER.Byline: Staff and Wire Services A narcotics narcotics n. 1) techinically, drugs which dull the senses. 2) a popular generic term for drugs which cannot be legally possessed, sold, or transported except for medicinal uses for which a physician or dentist's prescription is required. suspect led police on a chase at speeds topping 100 mph from Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. to the Westside and into the parking structure at the popular Beverly Center The Beverly Center is a shopping center in Los Angeles, California, United States. Description The Beverly Center is a monolithic eight-story structure located at the edge of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, California, between La Cienega and San Vicente boulevards. mall, which was shut down for two hours until the man was caught. As many as 500 shoppers and mall employees were trapped in the eight- story shopping center shopping center, a concentration of retail, service, and entertainment enterprises designed to serve the surrounding region. The modern shopping center differs from its antecedents—bazaars and marketplaces—in that the shops are usually amalgamated into , and police from several agencies sealed vehicle exits, searching all cars before they were allowed to leave. Nearby streets were blocked off. Canine officers searched two hours before finding Gregory Venter venter /ven·ter/ (ven´ter) pl. ven´tres [L.] 1. a fleshy contractile part of a muscle. 2. abdomen. 3. a hollowed part or cavity. ven·ter n. , 29, in an air-conditioning service room, suffering from a gunshot wound that authorities said was not life-threatening. ``It's a nightmare to effectively seal off a huge area like that,'' said Simi Valley police Sgt. Arch Morgan, one of the officers who pursued Venter from Ventura County. ``There's a lot of people to contend with.'' About 11:50 a.m., Simi Valley police officers spotted three men in a maroon Honda hatchback, including Venter, who was wanted on a felony narcotics warrant, officials said. They approached the vehicle, and when one man got out, Venter slid into the driver's seat driv·er's seat n. A position of control or authority. and backed toward the officers. One officer fired several rounds at Venter, blowing out the left rear window and hitting Venter at least once before he drove away, authorities said. The fleeing car sped east on the Ronald Reagan Freeway to Balboa Boulevard, where it sideswiped another vehicle. A passenger in the car, identified as the suspect's 23-year-old brother, Mark, jumped out of the still-moving car at Napa Street and Odessa Avenue. He suffered moderate injuries. Meanwhile, Gregory Venter headed south on the San Diego Freeway The San Diego Freeway (Interstate 405, and the part of Interstate 5 south of the El Toro Y[1]) is one of the principal north-south highways in Southern California, and the major beltway of I-5 running through Southern California. , weaving in and out of traffic at speeds topping 100 mph, before exiting at Sunset Boulevard. He sped along busy residential streets and main arteries like Bundy Drive and Barrington Avenue before heading east toward the Beverly Center and into the multilevel mul·ti·lev·el adj. Having several levels: a multilevel parking garage. Adj. 1. multilevel - of a building having more than one level parking garage there. Inside, Venter crashed the car into a wall on the second level of the parking structure, police said. Officers quickly surrounded the huge, triangular-shaped mall at Beverly, La Cienega and San Vicente boulevards, closed nearby streets and set up a command post. Officers from the Los Angeles, Beverly Hills and Simi Valley police departments joined forces, along with members of the California Highway Patrol. It was unclear whether Venter's younger brother and the other man would face any charges, officials said. Andrea Cavanaugh, (805) 583-7602 andrea.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Los Angeles police control empty streets around the Beverly Center while they search inside for a man who lead police on a chase from Simi Valley. Nick Ut/Associated Press (2) Paramedics tend to a man - handcuffed to a gurney gurney /gur·ney/ (gur´ne) a wheeled cot used in hospitals. gur·ney n. pl. gur·neys A metal stretcher with wheeled legs, used for transporting patients. - who jumped out of a car being pursued by police at Napa Street and Odessa Avenue in North Hills. Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News |
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