WILD VIDEO: Pursuit Ends In Fiery Wreck At Palms Gas Station

PALMS (CBSLA) – A driver was captured after he led California Highway Patrol on a pursuit that ended when his car — that was already on fire from an earlier collision — careened into a gas station late Thursday night.

At around 11:45 p.m., a Dodge Challenger being pursued by CHP officers collided with another car on South Robertson Boulevard. The impact with that vehicle was so strong the Dodge was momentarily in the air. Both cars lost control, and the Dodge careened through a grassy area before slamming into the pump barriers at a Shell gas station at South Robertson Boulevard and Kincardine Avenue, just off the 10 Freeway.

"If this had to happen at all, the way it happened is exactly the way you want it to go down," Manal El-Khoury, manager of the Shell station, said.

The crash was caught on security video. The Dodge can be seen careening toward the pump already in flames. The impact was so strong that all the Challenger's airbags deployed.

The male driver jumped out and ran to the other side of the vehicle to try and get his female passenger free. When he couldn't get the door open, he ran off, CHP said.

The driver was captured after a short foot chase. His passenger had minor injuries, but was said to be fine. It was not immediately clear whether she would face any charges.

"It's just hard to fathom that things like this can happen, that people can be reckless," El-Khoury said. "That people can put themselves in danger, and put other people in danger instead of doing what's right."

The suspect's name and the circumstances that first prompted the chase were not confirmed.