A pickup truck, driving at speeds up to 80 mph on surface streets, struck a San Diego police cruiser and several other cars, injuring the driver along with two police officers, police said.
The crash happened around 4:30 a.m. Thursday near Altadena and Orange Avenue around in City Heights. Nearby residents said they were awakened by what sounded like a bomb.
A San Diego police officer tried to stop the pickup’s driver when he was headed the wrong way down a one-way street.
“Officers spotted him, attempted to stop and engaged in a pursuit and then because of the speed of the suspect had backed off. The suspect got away. Another officer spotted him, had a very, very short pursuit also, that officer backed off. The suspect got away,” said Lt. Dan Christman with SDPD.
While the officers were in the area, the suspect blew through an intersection and hit one of the patrol cars in the area, Christman said.
The suspect blew that stop sign going about 70 miles per hour, Christman said.
The suspect collided with the front of the officer’s car, spinning the patrol car, and then continued crashing into some parked cars 4190 Alta Dena. Up to ten cars were damaged, police said.
The impact of the crash almost ripped off the bed of the truck and threw the suspect from the vehicle.
One of the officers, who was actually trapped inside the patrol car when emergency crews arrived, was unconscious for several moments after the crash.
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The officers were conscious and shaken up but they don’t suspect serious injuries, Christman said. The suspect is in critical condition in a medically-induced coma, police said.
The suspect and both officers were taken to Scripps Mercy Hospital in Hillcrest.
Investigators expect to have the intersection of Altadena and Orange shut down for four or five hours.
