LAPD Chases Car Thief in Echo Park

Traffic slowed to a crawl in parts of Echo Park Thursday night as police searched for a car thief.

Alvarado was first closed between Reservoir and Glendale. But about an hour into the search police added the block between Reservoir and Sunset.

Cars backed up on Reservoir when they made a right at the initial roadblock there, disrupting the search, according to an officer on the scene.

An LAPD chopper also circled around the intersection of Reservoir and Alvarado for several hours during the search, which began around 9:30 p.m.

Two officers directed traffic at Sunset and Alvarado, sometimes contradicting the stoplights above them.

According to the Eastsider LA, the thief ditched his car near the intersection of Sunset and Alvardo. He then ran into the area nearby, and the chase was on.

It caught the attention of a crowd of visitors from Nebraska staying at The Dream Center on a mission this week.

They stood outside the car wash at the corner of Sunset and Alvarado for a time watching.

Said one, "We don't have anything like this in Nebraska."

Meantime, one local was upset to learn that pedestrian access was also blocked.

"I wanted to go to Vons," she said.