Driver In Possibly Stolen Car Leads Pursuit From Santee to Ocean Beach

SAN DIEGO, CA — A motorist who refused to yield for a traffic stop Monday in a commercial district near Gillespie Field airport led authorities on a meandering hourlong pursuit that ended in an ocean-front neighborhood just south of Mission Bay, where he abandoned the car he was driving and made a failed attempt to escape on foot.

A deputy tried to pull the man over in a Lowe's parking lot in the 9400 block of Mission Gorge Road in Santee shortly after 11 a.m. because the green Dodge Charger the motorist was driving had no license plates, according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Office.

With deputies giving chase, the man fled, mostly at slow to moderate speeds, over surface streets in Santee, El Cajon, Lakeside and La Mesa before entering Interstate 8 in the area of Severin Drive in the latter city, sheriff's Lt. David Perkins said.

The suspect then continued on toward the coast at high speeds, prompting the deputies tailing him to back off for safety reasons as the crew of a sheriff's helicopter continued to track him from the air, Perkins said.

As the driver neared the western terminus of the freeway, however, the personnel in the aircraft had to pull off the chase as well due to the proximity of San Diego International Airport, the lieutenant said.

A short time later, deputies found the possibly stolen car abandoned at Newport Avenue and Venice Street in Ocean Beach.

Shortly after 1 p.m., San Diego police detained a man matching the description of the suspect at Robb Athletic Field in the 2500 block of Bacon Street, about a mile north of where the Dodge had been ditched. Deputies who had been involved in the pursuit subsequently identified him as the suspect and took him into custody for booking into county jail him, Perkins said.

The arrestee's identity was not immediately available.

— City News Service