A motorist who fled a traffic stop on Interstate 5 in Logan Heights Thursday led a brief pursuit that ended in a fiery collision that sent him to a hospital, authorities said.
The chase began shortly after 10:30 a.m., when a U.S. Border Patrol agent tried to pull over the driver for reckless driving on the northbound side of the freeway near Cesar Chavez Parkway, USBP spokesman Vincent Pirro Jr. said.
The man refused to yield, fleeing for a short distance before losing control of his Nissan sedan, causing it to crash into a pickup truck. The car then overturned and caught fire, Pirro said.
The pursuing agent pulled to the side of the freeway, hurried over to the burning car and pulled out the driver.
Medics took the man, whose name was not released, to a hospital for treatment of injuries of undisclosed severity.
No one else was hurt in the crash, Pirro said.
It was unclear why the motorist fled from the agent.
Though it is not their primary duty, Border Patrol personnel sometimes conduct traffic stops if public safety might be at stake, according to Pirro.
–City News Service
