A driver suspected of stealing a trailer was arrested Tuesday morning after leading officers on a wild stop-and-start freeway pursuit that prompted the closure of northbound Interstate 15 lanes near Miramar for more than an hour.
The incident began after someone called police shortly after 7:30 a.m. to report that a woman was attempting to steal a trailer from a business on Balboa Avenue near Convoy Street in Kearny Mesa.
Police contacted the driver, who was in a Toyota 4Runner with a trailer hooked up to it, and put a “stop stick” behind one of the rear tires, but the driver was able to drive off, police said.
The driver made her way onto northbound Interstate 15, where the SUV lost one of its rear tires. She lost control, and the trailer flipped onto its side, police said.
The vehicle “appeared disabled in the middle lanes of the freeway” near Pomerado Road, police said. That’s when officers placed patrol cars in front of and behind the vehicle and tried to negotiate with the driver, but she refused to talk with them.
Traffic backs up on northbound Interstate 15 near Miramar Way after a police pursuit ended with crash Tuesday in San Diego. (Michael Ho / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Shortly after 8:30 a.m., a traffic alert was issued, and California Highway Patrol officers shut down the northbound lanes of I-15, taking traffic off the freeway at Miramar Way.
After attempting to negotiate with the woman for about an hour, officers deployed pepper balls into the vehicle. The driver was able to move her car and pushed the rear patrol car back several yards before heading over brush to exit at Miramar Way.
An elderly male pedestrian “jumped out of the way” and was nearly hit. It is not known if he was transported to the hospital, he said.
Police said the driver then made a U-turn, heading north in the southbound lanes of the freeway.
“Due to the heightened danger of a collision, officers did not pursue the vehicle going the wrong way on the freeway,” police said in a statement. However, a police helicopter tracked the vehicle’s movements.
At some point, the SUV lost its trailer in the middle lanes of the freeway.
“The trailer was barely hanging on and came loose after it clipped the side of another vehicle in the traffic,” said Sgt. Saum Poorsaleh.
South of Mira Mesa Boulevard, the SUV stalled, and the driver got out of the vehicle with her dog. According to police, she allegedly tried to carjack drivers of several vehicles before police deployed a Taser and were able to arrest her on the freeway.
The woman was taken to a hospital with minor injuries. She is expected to be booked into jail on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, attempted carjacking, felony evading and multiple counts of hit and run, police said.