A motorist who refused to yield for a traffic stop in the South Bay on Wednesday led officers on a chase during he rammed a police cruiser and another vehicle before pulling over in front of his own home and making a failed bid to escape on foot.
The nearly 30-minute pursuit began in the 100 block of East Oneida Street in Chula Vista about 1:45 p.m., when an officer spotted a blue compact car that had been the subject of a reckless driving report in the same general area earlier in the afternoon, Lt. Fritz Reber said.
When the officer tried to pull the sedan over, the driver — later identified as 60-year-old Carlos Juan Vasquez — sped off, Reber said.
The fleeing motorist proceeded to lead police over various streets in the southern reaches of the city, at times driving in circles, running stop signs, racing through parking lots and cutting across parks, Reber said.
Eventually, a spike strip that police laid in the suspect’s path deflated two of his tires. Still, the man refused to halt.
At one point, Vasquez drove down a cul-de-sac, turned his vehicle around, stopped and then allegedly drove intentionally into the front of a squad car. The police vehicle was damaged but still driveable, and the sergeant behind the wheel was uninjured.
The suspect also drove over a roadside electrical box and allegedly rammed a car stopped at a red light at Third and Orange avenues. The victim motorist suffered minor injuries.
The chase finally ended when the suspect pulled into his own driveway in the 1300 block of Max Avenue, got out and ran off toward the back of the house. An officer released a service dog, which caught up with Vasquez and dragged him to the ground as he was trying to climb a fence.
Vasquez allegedly continued to resist as officers struggled to handcuff him, prompting one to shock him with an electric stun gun. He was then taken into custody and transported to a hospital for evaluation of apparently minor injuries suffered during the arrest.
Vasquez, who has an “extensive” criminal history, was expected to face various charges, including assault on a peace officer, multiple counts of assault with a deadly weapon and felony evasion of police, the lieutenant said.
— City News Service
