Sacramento, CA : Border Patrol pursuit ends in crash on Thursday, August 10, 2017

A high-speed Border Patrol pursuit Thursday afternoon ended when an SUV linked to a suspected murderer went off Interstate 15 and into a Rancho Bernardo ravine, killing three of the four people inside.

Two agents were patrolling near Deer Springs Road when they decided to run the license plate of a Black GMC Envoy about 1:05 p.m., Border Patrol Agent Tekae Michael said.

The freeway, along with Interstate 5, is considered a major corridor for drug trafficking and human smuggling, federal officials said.

An alert revealed the vehicle was associated with an armed and dangerous man suspected of murder and human smuggling. When the agents tried to pull the vehicle over, the driver sped off.

The vehicle was traveling at high speed when it crashed through a guardrail and a chainlink fence on the right shoulder of the freeway, ending up in the ravine just south of West Bernardo Drive about 10 minutes after they ran the plate.

Three people in the SUV died and one was hospitalized with major injuries, said California Highway Patrol Officer Jake Sanchez. None was identified.

It is unclear if the wanted man was in the vehicle when it crashed and federal officials did not elaborate on his suspected offenses.

The afternoon chase was the third involving Border Patrol agents to end in a crash this year.

In February and April, pursuits ended when suspected smugglers crashed, injuring a number of unauthorized immigrants. Authorities said in both cases, agents followed pursuit policies.

On April 23, seven Mexican nationals were injured when the Ford Expedition they were riding in crashed on state Route 125 in Chula Vista. Border Patrol agents had pursued the SUV from Otay Mesa.

On Feb. 27, agents pursued an SUV in Campo. It crashed on Lake Morena Drive, injuring two smuggling suspects as well as seven passengers from Mexico.

Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Mark Endicott said Border Patrol agents regularly patrol the North County area for smugglers. He added that agents are “highly skilled and highly trained and develop a reasonable amount of suspicion before attempting a vehicle stop.”

Border Patrol policy states agents may get involved in pursuits only when the benefit outweighs any immediate danger created by speeding or other emergency driving techniques.

The federal agency overhauled its pursuit policy in the 1990s after a Border Patrol chase in Temecula ended in a deadly crash near a high school. Four students and a father who was driving his son to school were killed.

The latest version of the policy was crafted in 2007, replacing a 2002 version. It was reviewed in November 2010, and has remained in place since then.

Endicott has said pursuits involving agents are rare.

"Unfortunately we can't control what the driver of the vehicle does or decides to do,” Endicott said. “I can tell you that (the) Border Patrol continually does vehicle stops without any incident.”

After Thursday’s crash, all southbound traffic south of Via Rancho Parkway was diverted to the FasTrak lanes. The Via Rancho Parkway and West Bernardo on-ramps to south I-15 were also shut down. Traffic was backed up in both directions near the crash site for hours.

Source :
Border Patrol pursuit ends in crash; 3 dead, 1 hurt