It began in La Crescenta on Friday morning, when deputies tried to stop a driver to issue a citation.
Instead of stopping, she continued to speed away.
Judging by the way she was waving frantically to them, they realized that she was in an out-of-control car without brakes. The road she was on -- Pennsylvania Avenue -- was all downhill.
As the Ford Focus accelerated to 60 mph, it ran several red lights.
Sheriff's deputy Marcelo Ruiz happened to see the out-of-control car. He sped his squad car past the Ford Focus, then slowed down as fast as he safely could, using his car as the brake.
He was able to bring both vehicles to a stop at Mills Avenue.
Good thing, too, because had she gone farther, she would have hit a guardrail and injured herself.
"At the speed she was going, there was no way she could have made that turn where Pennsylvania Avenue curves," said Sgt. Gary Ogurek from the Crescenta Valley Sheriff's station.
Deputies said an empty brake fluid reservoir may have been caused the breaks to go out.
Ruiz managed to stop the car with very little damage to either car, just some chips and scratches on the bumpers.
Turns out, he was the right man for the job.
"He was a truck driver before becoming a deputy sheriff and he happened to have the driving skill to do that," Ogurek said.
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