SAN DIEGO - The driver of an SUV packed with suspected illegal immigrants and nearly 700 pounds of marijuana sped from police the wrong way on Interstate 8 before crashing head-on into a California Highway Patrol car, officials said. Authorities say the incident late Wednesday was part of a pattern by smugglers who try to evade border checkpoints by veering into oncoming traffic, often at night, sometimes with their headlights off. The SUV involved had been modified to enable it to flee more easily. "This year for some reason they're becoming more frequent," said Brian Pennings, a CHP spokesman based at the agency's El Cajon office.
After Wednesday's crash, seven people jumped out of the disabled Chevrolet Suburban and fled into the bush about 30 miles east of San Diego, Pennings said. Investigators quickly caught five of the occupants, who appeared to be illegal immigrants, he said. The captured passengers and the CHP officer whose car was rammed were not injured, Pennings said. The driver had not been found late Wednesday.
The Suburban had been modified with a heavy-duty front bumper and solid, silicone-filled tires that could not be punctured by the spike strips that the CHP lays down to disable regular tires, Pennings said.
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Investigators found 694 pounds of marijuana inside, he said.
The pursuit began when a CHP officer tried to pull over the Suburban on a side road because it had an expired registration tag, Pennings said. But the driver steered the Suburban up an off-ramp and began speeding west in the eastbound freeway lanes, Pennings said. CHP officers laid down several spike strips but they had no effect on the Suburban's tires, he said. To prevent a head-on collision, CHP officers slowed and stopped eastbound Interstate 8 traffic, he said.
The CHP officer who spotted the Suburban was involved in a new operation aimed at capturing people who have been driving the wrong way along Interstate 8 to avoid detection at Border Patrol checkpoints, Pennings said. The CHP has received several such reports this year after receiving none last year, he said. On June 30, an immigrant smuggler swerved into oncoming traffic on a highway 20 miles east of San Diego and struck a pickup truck, killing five people in the van, including a 13-year-old boy. The driver of the pickup was among those injured. The van driver was charged with murder.
On Aug. 1, a van packed with suspected illegal immigrants overturned on Interstate 40, about 140 miles east of Los Angeles, killing six people, including the driver, and injuring 14. |