Emergency flashing lights. (File photo courtesy of OnScene.TV)
AÂ motorist who refused to yield for a traffic stop Monday in East County led authorities on a meandering hour-long pursuit that ended with an abandoned vehicle in Ocean Beach.
The driver fled from the car, which possibly had been stolen, on foot, but deputies later arrested a 30-year-old suspect who matched his description.
The incident began in a parking lot in Santee. A deputy tried to pull over a green Dodge Charger that lacked license plates in the lot, in the 9400 block of Mission Gorge Road, shortly after 11 a.m., according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office.
With deputies giving chase, the man fled, mostly at moderate speeds, over surface streets in Santee, El Cajon and Lakeside before entering Interstate 8 in the area of Severin Drive in La Mesa, Lt. David Perkins said.
The suspect then continued to the west at high speeds, prompting the deputies tailing him to back off for safety reasons as a sheriff’s helicopter continued to track him, Perkins said.
As the driver neared the terminus of the freeway, however, the personnel in the aircraft had to pull off the chase due to proximity to San Diego International Airport. Deputies later found the car abandoned at Newport Avenue and Venice Street in Ocean Beach.
Shortly after 1 p.m., San Diego police found a man whose description matched the suspect’s at Robb Athletic Field, about a mile north of where the Dodge had been ditched, and detained him.
Deputies involved in the pursuit subsequently identified the man as the suspect and took him into custody on suspicion of felony evasion of peace officers, driving while intoxicated, possession of illicit drug paraphernalia and violating terms of his parole, Perkins said.
Whether the sports car was stolen remained unclear in the late afternoon, the lieutenant said.
Updated 6 p.m. March 30, 2026