Law enforcement authorities are looking for three suspects they say fired shots at a tow truck driver returning from repossessing a vehicle, carjacked a Good Samaritan and attempted to carjack a third victim.
San Diego County Sheriff’s Deputies are investigating the shooting and traffic collision reported at 4 a.m. in the area of Gopher Canyon Road and East Vista Way.
The incident began when a tow truck driver was heading northbound on Interstate 15, deputies said. The man saw two cars - described as a black colored late 90s Acura Integra and a black late 90s Honda Civic - speeding on the northbound ramp of the freeway near El Norte Parkway, entering the highway.
When the tow truck driver drove to the Gopher Canyon Road off ramp, he spotted the Honda Civic ahead of him in the same lane, with its hazard lights on. The Acura followed closely behind him; combined, the two cars forced him to stop.
The tow truck driver stopped in the middle of the road, deputies said. When he did, the driver of the Honda got out of his car with a shotgun and racked a round, pointing the weapon at the driver.
The driver described the about 5 feet 10 inches tall with a medium build, light complexion and facial hair on his chin. He described the driver of the Honda with the shotgun as a man in his mid-20s, about 5 feet 10 inches tall, with a thin build and a mustache.
Fearing for his life, the driver stepped on the gas pedal and steered his car toward the center of the road, avoiding the Civic in front of him. As he drove away, he heard a gunshot.
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The tow truck driver continued westbound on Gopher Canyon Road, deputies said. As he drove, the Acura caught up and passed the driver, speeding at approximately 80 miles per hour, and crashed into a hill at East Vista Way and Gopher Canyon Road.
A Good Samaritan spotted the crashed Acura in the ditch and pulled over to see if the driver needed help. At the time. the black colored Honda has pulled up and parked next to the Acura.
The woman saw a man walking from the crashed car with a shotgun pointed at her, deputies said. The suspect carjacked her car, deputies said. The woman got out and the suspects drove her car and the Honda Civic away, deputies said.
The carjacked vehicle was a 2005 Grey Dodge Neon, California Highway Patrol officers told NBC 7.
The men were last seen driving northbound on State Route 76.
Later, deputies found the Honda Civic unoccupied on SR 76 near Olive Hill Road in Bonsall.
Hours later, at approximately 5:30 a.m., two men and a woman in the Dodge attempted to carjack a truck from a man in Temecula at a park and ride parking lot, deputies said.
The man drove his car into the side of the Dodge, deputies said, and the man shot two rounds at the side of the victim's truck.
The driver escaped the attempted carjacking, deputies said.
Deputies previously said they took several suspects into custody in connection with the shooting, chase and carjacking at a convenience store at Olive Hill Road and Mission Road in Fallbrook.
However, deputies later said the two men and the woman were outstanding, as was the gray colored Dodge Neon.
No other information was immediately available.
