LOS ANGELES _ A suspected car thief fell off a shipping crane Wednesday night at the Port of Los Angeles after an hours-long standoff with police, officials said.
About 9:20 p.m., the man plunged about 150 feet onto a vessel on the dock, said Phillip Sanfield, a spokesman for the Port of Los Angeles. It's unclear if he jumped or if the fall was an accident. Rescue teams were searching the ship.
The man had led police on a high-speed pursuit, driving recklessly through the Port of Los Angeles before climbing on top of the crane.
The surreal scene was captured on live television, with the man in a Los Angeles Lakers jersey roaming the top of the massive crane while officers waited on the ground.
The pursuit began about 3:10 p.m., when officers with the Los Angeles Police Department's Wilshire Station tried to stop the driver before losing him on the freeway.
Long Beach police spotted him later and chased him to Wilmington, where the man drove a Subaru SUV past a security booth and onto a port complex below the Vincent Thomas Bridge.
"He rolled right through that," Sanfield said.
He eventually fled the vehicle and climbed the tower stairs, leaving the car drifting up the street.
As of shortly before 9 p.m., the man remained on top of the crane tower in a standoff with police. Crisis negotiators and SWAT officers climbed up the crane to make contact with him as a helicopter hovered above.
"They're being very cautious with him," Sanfield said.
Officials said the car, which had paper license plates, was reported stolen from a dealer in San Bernardino.
Television footage showed dozens of onlookers in the area.
