LASD Press Release, 12/17/2010
    A 30-year old Chatsworth man is in custody in Santa Clarita after stabbing his mother multiple times; carjacking a car from a second woman, assaulting her and kidnapping her 4-year old son, then crashing the carjacked car; stealing a deputy's car when he rushed to rescue the child; driving off a 100' embankment and crashing and burning the deputy's radio car; then trying to pull the shotgun from the burning patrol car; and fighting with and biting deputies who arrested him.
    The bizarre series of violent incidents caused by one suspect began at about 5:50PM Friday night, when Suspect Aaron Clay Tanner stabbed his mother and pushed her out of their car on the Antelope Valley (14) Freeway at the Golden State (5) freeway interchange, near Mission Hills.
    He then drove northbound on the 14 freeway, and exited at the Newhall Avenue off-ramp in Newhall.
    At the bottom of the off-ramp is a Park and Ride parking lot, where the suspect allegedly crashed into another vehicle. Santa Clarita Sheriff's Station deputies then received their first notification about this series of incidents when they got a call from a citizen at about 5:57PM reporting a hit and run in the parking lot.
    Deputies soon arrived and discovered a woman in the Park and Ride lot who said she had been assaulted, her PT Cruiser had been carjacked, and her 4-year old son who was in her car had been kidnapped. (The suspect had also collided with another car in the lot and injured the driver.)
    Deputies searched the area for the stolen car and kidnapped child. A lone deputy spotted the PT Cruiser about four miles away, where the suspect had crashed it near Carl Boyer Drive and Golden Valley Road, Canyon Country. The suspect had rear-ended another vehicle and then backed into a tree, disabling the PT Cruiser. Upon seeing the scene of the crash, the deputy rushed to render aid to the child whom he correctly believed was most likely still in the crashed PT Cruiser, but he did not see the suspect. Meanwhile, the suspect was able to circle around and steal the deputy's radio car.
    (Deputies later learned that immediately after crashing the PT Cruiser, the suspect had unsuccessfully tried to carjack yet another vehicle.)
    The deputy immediately used his portable radio to broadcast the suspect's last seen direction to responding patrol deputies and a nearby Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department helicopter.
    Assisting Santa Clarita Sheriff's Station deputies spotted the suspect driving the stolen radio car near Newhall Ranch Road and Santa Clarita Road, Saugus. The deputies went in pursuit of the suspect as he attempted to evade them. Deputies saw the suspect drive at a high rate of speed down to the end of the cul-da-sac of Santa Clarita Rd. He crashed head-on into a four foot high block wall, went over an embankment, and down about a 100 foot drop. The car rolled over several times, and came to rest at the bottom of the drop, where it caught on fire.
    As the deputies rushed to reach the suspect and the burning radio car, they saw the suspect reaching for a shotgun which had been dislodged from the demolished car. The deputies reached the suspect before he could arm himself with the shotgun, and a physical struggle ensued including the use of a Taser by deputies, who were ultimately able to overcome his resistance, arrest him, and stop his violent rampage. Several deputies and the suspect were injured while the suspect was being arrested.
     "Numerous people are being medically treated because of the suspect's outrageously violent actions, said Captain Mike Parker, Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau. "A lot of cars were damaged, but more than anything else we are concerned about all the adults and child who were injured, and hope they all come out of this okay. "
    The child was most likely seat-belted in the car, as he apparently received only minor injuries from the collision and kidnapping, including a scratch under his eye. He was treated by doctors and released. His mother is being treated in a local hospital for injuries to her face, where the suspect struck her during the carjacking and kidnapping of her child. The mother and child are residents of Palmdale.
    The mother of the suspect was stabbed multiple times in the upper body, but preliminary reports are that her injuries are not life-threatening. She and her son are residents of Chatsworth.
    All other victims are residents of Santa Clarita Valley.
    Suspect Aaron Clay Tanner is in serious condition in a local hospital, due to the multiple traffic collisions and acts of violence. Suspect Tanner will be booked for Attempted Murder, Kidnapping, Carjacking, Attempted Carjacking, Auto Theft, Assault with a Deadly Weapon, Evading Arrest, and felony Hit and Run (with injuries). His bail amount will likely be approximately $500,000.00
    Several deputies are being medically treated for a variety of injuries including being bitten by the suspect on the legs and hands when they were handcuffing him.