A man wanted in connection with a prior road chase wound up in custody and hospitalized Monday after leading law enforcement personnel on another pursuit, this one ending when he got into a collision and leaped off a 30-foot-high South Bay freeway bridge in a bid to escape.
Frank Rios, 36, sped off when deputies tried to pull him over on Jamacha Road in Spring Valley shortly after 11:30 a.m., according to sheriff’s Sgt. Matt Cook.
The patrol personnel tailed Rios’ white Scion XB as he fled over surface streets and got onto state Route 125, weaving in and out of traffic and reaching speeds around 100 mph while fleeing to the south and west, Cook said.
Aided by a sheriff’s helicopter crew and police from National City and San Diego, deputies chased Rios for about 15 miles.
The vehicle pursuit ended when the suspect rear-ended another car on northbound on Interstate 5 near Civic Center Drive, Cook said. At that point, Rios got out, ran off and jumped off an elevated section of the freeway over 18th Street, the sergeant said.
Deputies arrested the incapacitated suspect, who was carrying a loaded .40-caliber pistol, and medics took him to a trauma center for treatment of cuts and broken bones.
After being released from medical care, Rios will be booked on suspicion of felony evasion of police and being a felon in possession of a stolen firearm and ammunition.
–City News Service