SAN YSIDRO – A National City police car was rammed by a fleeing suspect's car just north of the U.S.-Mexico border yesterday, authorities said.
The crash was one of two incidents that slowed vehicles crossing the border into Mexico yesterday morning.
National City police had been pursuing the vehicle after its driver failed to stop in Chula Vista for what police described later as a minor traffic violation. The motorist headed south on Interstate 805 around 10 a.m.
The pursuit eventually ended on Interstate 5 just north of the U.S.-Mexico border crossing in San Ysidro, and the driver was arrested, said California Highway Patrol Officer Alicia Contreras. No one was injured in the crash.
Authorities closed the fast lane and U-turn lane of southbound I-5 near the border for more than an hour, but both lanes were reopened shortly after noon.
A 30-year-old Chula Vista man was arrested on suspicion of failing to stop for peace officers, evading arrest, possession of a loaded .45-caliber handgun and reckless driving, said National City police Capt. Manuel Rodriguez.
The chase began, Rodriguez said, because the motorist had refused to stop when signaled to pull over for a minor traffic violation.
An earlier incident also slowed southbound traffic into Mexico at 8:30 a.m. when a van loaded with suspected undocumented immigrants had a tire blowout just after leaving the United States.
Authorities believe the Mexican immigrants got into the van on the U.S. side of the border, possibly around Otay Mesa, headed west on state Route 905 and for some reason turned south onto Interstate 805 toward the San Ysidro border crossing, Border Patrol spokesman Kurstan Rosberg said.
Rosberg said the driver may have believed the van was being followed by U.S. authorities, but it wasn't.
After crossing into Mexico, the van hit a guardrail or something that caused the blowout, Rosberg said. Two men ran from the van, jumped into a taxi and left the area but were arrested by Mexican authorities. The people in the van were released without charges.
Last week, authorities attempting to stop a vehicle carrying suspected illegal immigrants shot and killed the driver. The San Ysidro crossing was closed for nine hours.
Mark Arner: (619) 542-4556; mark.arner@uniontrib.com
