A suspected car thief hopping from roof to roof in Westwood is shouting threats to police.

According to KTLA-TV, the suspect has told Los Angeles police officers, "If I could get to my gun, I would kill all of you."

A Los Angeles Police Department spokesman could not immediately verify the quote.

LIVE VIDEO: Pursuit suspect in standoff with police

The pursuit of the suspect, which was initially carried live by Los Angeles television stations, began shortly before 8 a.m. when an LAPD cruiser attempted to pull over the suspect after noticing that the license plates on the car he was driving belonged to a vehicle that was reported stolen, according to police.

The man, dressed in a gray skull cap, a black long-sleeved shirt and baggy shorts, initially fled by car north on Malcolm Avenue, then fled on foot after passing Wilshire Boulevard, running to the 800 block of Malcolm, a block southeast from the UCLA campus, said LAPD spokesman Richard French.

By 8:20 a.m., KTLA was broadcasting images of the suspect hopping from roof to roof in a residential neighborhood of Westwood, evading police. At times, he approached officers, who were on the ground, while keeping his hands raised, and then he would suddenly move away, staying on the rooftops.

Officers have placed ladders close to the suspect and then backed away, apparently inviting him to come down peacefully. The suspect has not taken the offer.

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-- Rong-Gong Lin II

Photo: A suspect in a stolen-vehicle case flees across Westwood rooftops. Credit: KTLA-TV