A San Diego police officer who was trying to put down a spike strip in an attempt to stop a fleeing vehicle ended up firing his gun at the driver in the Fairbanks Ranch area on Wednesday morning, a sheriff’s spokesperson said.
After the shooting, the driver apparently traveled more than a dozen miles, into the Carmel Mountain Ranch community, before stopping. Investigators later confirmed the driver was not struck by gunfire and suffered no injuries as a result of the incident.
The incident began when San Diego police officers said they spotted an allegedly stolen vehicle on Telocote Road east of Interstate 5 around 11 a.m., said sheriff’s Lt. Juan Marquez. The officers attempted a traffic stop, but the vehicle drove away.
Shortly after 11:15 a.m., sheriff’s Lt. Joe Barry said he heard radio traffic about the pursuit as the vehicle was traveling on Interstate 805 and state Route 52.
The car was going “up and down the freeway and on side roads,” he said, before leading police into the Fairbanks Ranch area. That’s where a police officer, trying to disable the vehicle’s tires, put spike strips in the road.
According to Barry, the officer discharged his gun near the intersection of San Dieguito Road and Derby Farms Road when the vehicle almost “clipped” him. “He had to shoot at the car coming at him,” Barry said.
After the shooting, the driver continued to flee — and traveled another 12 to 13 miles.
“Long after that shooting, the car continued, and where it ended up was on Ted Williams Parkway and Pomerado Road, at that intersection,” Barry said.
A photo from the scene, posted on the Fox 5 San Diego website, showed a sedan with front-end damage stopped at the side of a road, its hood pointing toward the sidewalk.
The driver was then taken into custody and booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon on a law enforcement officer, possession of a stolen vehicle and felony reckless evading, investigators said.
San Diego police said on X that San Dieguito Road was closed at Derby Farms Road and that residents can access an alternate route at San Dieguito Road and Caminito Pacifica Trail. They also asked drivers to avoid Ted Williams Parkway at Highland Ranch Road.
“There are no current threats to the public and traffic will be affected for several hours,” the agency posted at 1:21 p.m.
Homicide detectives with the Sheriff’s Office will be investigating the shooting, Barry said. Under a countywide protocol, law enforcement agencies do not investigate shootings involving their own officers.