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Southern California man hospitalized after suspect steals coffee cart, leads police on wild chase

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Southern California man hospitalized after suspect steals coffee cart, leads police on wild chase

A man who was hospitalized after a suspect stole a coffee cart with him inside and led officers on a wild, multi-county pursuit recalls the terrifying ordeal.

“I thought I was going to die,” said the victim, Derek Strano, 37. 

On July 16, the suspect, Liam Preston Yanez, 28, jumped into a pickup truck that was also towing a coffee service trailer in Moorpark.

Little did the suspect know, Strano was still inside the coffee cart. At the time, Strano had gone inside the cart to prepare a drink for a family member who had arrived home for surgery.

As the truck suddenly took off, Strano was taken on a violent, wild ride through Ventura and Los Angeles counties as police officers chased the stolen truck.

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“I feel the truck moving and I had been in there for two minutes,” Strano recalled. “I thought I had the parking brake off, but then the truck blows through the fence. It was hell.” 

  • Derek Strano making coffee inside a trailer owned by Matt’s Coffee Express. (Derek Strano)
  • The suspect crashed the pickup truck in North Hollywood, overturning the coffee trailer on July 16, 2024. (KTLA)
  • Derek Strano speaks to KTLA's Chris Wolfe on July 26, 2024. (KTLA)
  • Derek Strano was hospitalized after being ejected from a coffee cart during a police pursuit. (Derek Strano)
  • Derek Strano was hospitalized with serious injuries after being ejected from a coffee cart during a police pursuit. (Derek Strano)
  • Derek Strano was hospitalized with serious injuries after being ejected from a coffee cart during a police pursuit. (Derek Strano)
  • North Hollywood pursuit crash
  • The interior of the coffee cart was destroyed during a stolen vehicle pursuit through L.A. and Ventura counties on July 16, 2024. (Derek Strano)
  • The interior of the coffee cart was destroyed during a stolen vehicle pursuit through L.A. and Ventura counties on July 16, 2024. (Derek Strano)
  • North Hollywood pursuit crash
  • Derek Strano was hospitalized with serious injuries after being ejected from a coffee cart during a police pursuit. (Derek Strano)
  • Derek Strano was hospitalized with serious injuries after being ejected from a coffee cart during a police pursuit. (Derek Strano)
  • Suspect leading police on a chase driving a stolen pickup truck with a coffee trailer containing Derek Strano inside on July 16, 2024. (KTLA)
  • North Hollywood pursuit crash

Video of the chase showed the suspect driving erratically as the coffee cart swerved dangerously behind. 

Strano held on for life, grabbing a sink inside the coffee cart as the chase became more chaotic. Eventually, Strano could not hold on any longer.

“He took a turn and the side door was ripped off and I flew out of it when he made that turn,” Strano said.

The coffee cart later overturned as the suspect crashed the pickup truck into the Heartfelt Education through the Arts Center building in North Hollywood.

Strano was left hospitalized with serious injuries after the ordeal. The incident left him with severe pain and limited his mobility. 

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Strano said he’s also been suffering from nightmares and flashbacks to the night of the crash.

The suspect, Yanez, was arrested on several felony charges including unlawful driving or taking of a vehicle and receiving stolen property.  He is being held on $20,000 bail.

Strano, however, believes those charges are not enough for the damage caused.

“His charges, not one of them are for my injuries,” Strano said. “My name isn’t in the report. I was just a worker, the assistant, and it kind of got to me.”

For now, Strano is focused on recovering and is undergoing physical therapy. He said he may also consider psychological therapy as well.

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A GoFundMe page to help Strano with his medical bills can be found here.

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Los Angeles, Ca

Anaheim police officers shot and kill robbery suspect

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Anaheim police officers shot and kill robbery suspect

Police in Anaheim shot and killed a man that they say was suspected of robbery on Friday night.

The officers were called to a reported robbery at about 8 p.m. in the 1200 block of E. South Street, according to the Anaheim Police Department.

After arriving to the scene, four officers were involved in a shooting with the suspect, a man police said was about 30 years old.

He was struck by gunfire and pronounced dead at the scene; he has yet to be publicly identified as of early Saturday morning.

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Police said a realistic-looking replica gun was found at the scene. No additional details about the shooting were immediately made available.

The California Department of Justice, among other agencies, will investigate the incident.

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Los Angeles, Ca

Playful pod of orcas reappear off Orange County coastline

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Playful pod of orcas reappear off Orange County coastline

In a rare return to the Southern California coast, a beloved family of orcas made a few star appearances for whale watchers on Friday.

Lucky viewers got to witness a visit from a mother killer whale and three of her offspring around 9 a.m. off Laguna Beach and then again in the afternoon in Newport Beach, according to Davey’s Locker Whale Watching.

A company representative said this particular pod of orcas is well known among California whale-watching enthusiasts as the CA51 pod is “a family of orcas with a reputation for their playful nature interacting with boats.”

Footage from Friday’s sightings shows Star, the mother, who is about 40 years old, her two sons Orion and Bumper – Bumper is purportedly known for his 6-foot tall dorsal fin and playful behavior around boats – and Star’s daughter, Comet.

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These killer whales were last seen on Dec. 15 about 17 miles off the Orange County coast, according to Davey’s Locker Whale Watching, but, before then, the CA51 pod hadn’t been seen locally in around six years.

Experts said the members of this family are also referred to as ‘transient’ orcas, meaning they cover a large range between southeast Alaska to the Mexico border.

“Lucky passengers aboard our whale watching boats were thrilled to see this family of orcas again today, as they used to be one of the most frequently-sighted killer whale pods in Southern California between 2012-2018, but now, we don’t encounter them much at all,” said a company representative in a release.

Although a clear reason for their change of routine is not yet known, experts said the pod’s diet leads them to wherever seals and sea lions are plentiful.

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Los Angeles, Ca

3 seriously injured in fiery sports car crash in Angeles Forest

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3 seriously injured in fiery sports car crash in Angeles Forest

Three people were transported to a Los Angeles County hospital with major injuries Friday morning after they were involved in a fiery crash on the Angeles Forest Highway.

The crash happened before 11 a.m. and involved at least two vehicles, one of which was a Maserati sports car.

First responders found the Maserati crashed on the side of the road with flames engulfing the vehicle. Firefighters were able to knock down the fire around 11:15 a.m. to rescue the injured patients.

According to the Los Angeles County Fire Department, three people were transported from the scene, including one person in critical condition.

The remnants of a Maserati sports car that was engulfed in flames following a crash on the Angeles Forest Highway on Dec. 27, 2024. (KTLA)

Video from Sky 5 showed the scorched car on the side of the roadway where it apparently hit the hillside. A second vehicle with major damage, a Toyota van, was being loaded onto a flatbed, with California Highway Patrol officials stating that the vehicle was driven by an innocent bystander traveling in the opposite direction of the Maserati.

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A third vehicle, which appeared to be a Porsche, was parked near the side of the road not far from the scene of the crash.

Authorities are investigating the possibility that the Maserati and the Porsche were street racing in the moments leading up to the violent crash.

The crash remains under investigation and the roadway was closed to through-traffic for over an hour as crews cleaned debris from the scene. By 12:20 p.m., all lanes of the roadway were reopened to traffic, according to the CHP incident log.

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