Cars

A 40-minute high-speed pursuit came to an end Friday in Thousand Oaks, where a driver lost control of his sports car and a CHP cruiser slammed into the side of it, officials said. TV images showed California Highway Patrol officers with guns drawn quickly surrounding the car and forcing a man out with his hands above his head before he laid down on the ground and was handcuffed. CHP officials said they are waiting for a report from the field on why the pursuit began. The officials said the pursuit began at 8:11 a.m. in Tarzana, with suspect speeding on the 101 Freeway and later the 23 Freeway and then taking to city streets in Thousand Oaks.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- The owner of an auto body shop near the home of the Boston bombing suspects said the younger brother appeared in his  store on Tuesday, nervous and demanding his car immediately. Two weeks ago, said 44-year-old Gilberto Junior, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had brought in a white Mercedes 1967 station wagon to have the damaged rear bumper repaired. He said it belonged to his girlfriend.  That was not unusual: Tsarnaev often brought in cars for wealthy friends from Boston University and MIT, Junior said, and always paid in cash.  What was strange was that the man showed up Tuesday wanting the car back early, clearly agitated.  "He was very nervous, biting his nails, agitated," Junior said.

Ryan Hunter-Reay was born in Texas and now lives in Florida, but the reigning IndyCar champion traces many key moments of his life - the highs and the lows - to Southern California. Hunter-Reay lived in Dana Point when his IndyCar career was teetering in the mid- to late-2000s. Then a comeback win in Long Beach in 2010 finally secured him a ride with a top team. That led to his capturing his first IndyCar title at a dramatic season finale in Fontana last September, making Hunter-Reay the series' first American champion in six years.

An Orange County businessman has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of defrauding dozens of doctors and dentists out of money to fund his own powerboats, luxury cars and stock in the Green Bay Packers. David Rose, 56, of Coto de Caza, was indicted Wednesday in Santa Ana on multiple counts of mail and wire fraud. A federal warrant for his arrest was issued. FBI spokesman Laura Eimiller said the agency has been informed that he is traveling in Asia. Rose is accused of running two schemes beginning in March 2005, using companies called M.D. Venture Partners LP and Technology Innovation Partners LP. He solicited physicians to invest in MDVP and falsely represented lucrative investment opportunities in emerging medical technologies, according to the indictment.

The tires on Vaughn Gittin Jr.'s Ford Mustang are shrieking as he jerks his car sideways at nearly 90 mph on this serpentine race track in Long Beach. Walls are closing in on either side, leaving no room for mistakes. As the next turn nears, Gittin pumps the clutch and yanks a neon green hand brake. The rear wheels lose traction, sending the car into a power slide and unleashing a torrent of smoke into the packed grandstands. The move brings nearly 15,000 spectators to their feet.

In the end, it was a very close call, but the less-expensive and longer-ranged 2013 Nissan Leaf edged out a best-ever field of competitors to win top honors on Kelley Blue Book's newest 10 best "green" cars list. "We went round and around on which car would be No. 1," Jack Nerad, KBB's executive editorial director and executive market analyst, said in an interview. "It was a very difficult choice," Nerad said of the decision to put the Leaf just ahead of the Tesla Model S sedan, which came in at No. 2. PHOTOS: Kelley Blue Book's top 10 'green' cars for 2013 "We went with the Leaf because it was so much improved, with a lower price and better battery range," Nerad said.

CicLAvia -- L.A.'s outdoor experiment in car-free urbanism -- is set to return for a sixth time on Sunday, with an expanded route offering bikers, roller-bladers, walkers and others a route stretching from downtown L.A. to Venice Beach. Organizers said the expanded route will cover more than 15 miles, allowing individuals to make their way through several neighborhoods. The event had previously been confined mostly to the downtown and Hollywood areas, covering approximately nine miles.

Fifteen miles of L.A. roads will be car-free Sunday, as CicLAvia heads to the sea for its sixth and longest event yet. The route will stretch from downtown L.A. to the Venice boardwalk, running through new neighborhoods including C ulver City, West Adams, Harvard Heights, Pico Union, Historic Core and El Pueblo . Previous events have been about 9 miles long, mostly in downtown and Hollywood. Participants are free to walk, run, bike, skateboard and enjoy the city outside of their cars.

Three people were killed and another injured Tuesday night when a car crashed into a light pole in South Los Angeles, officials said. One of the four occupants was ejected from the vehicle after it crashed into the pole in the 800 block of West Manchester Avenue about 10:20 p.m., the Los Angeles Fire Department said. The other three people were killed in the resulting fire. Information about the victims was not immediately available. The crash remained under investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department.

A Los Angeles Community College District proposal to lower the car allowances given to campus presidents and other executives - but use the money to boost salaries - has come under fire at a time when many students are unable to get classes because of budget cuts. Senior executives receive a $1,530 monthly allowance, the highest of any district in the state. Under a plan to be considered by the Board of Trustees on Wednesday, that amount would be reduced to $500 a month, effective July 1. The difference of $1,030 would be shifted to increase the salary schedules of nine campus presidents and six district administrators.