A suspect who drove the wrong-way on the freeway and roads barricaded himself into a health care center's employee lounge before surrendering, El Cajon police said Friday.
Police started pursuing the suspect, who was in a stolen vehicle, just after 5:40 p.m. when they saw him drive the wrong way on residential streets.
The driver then entered the freeway and headed westbound in the eastbound lanes of traffic.
As he exited at Greenfield and continued in the wrong lanes, he eventually crashed into a parked car in the 1500 block of Broadway.
El Cajon resident Sharon Rodriguez was at home across the street when she heard a "pow."
"And I looked out. The guy jumped out of his car and just ran down through that little tunnel looking thing, and just a bunch of cops came driving down and jumping out of their cars and chasing them," said Rodriguez.
The suspect took off on foot and ran into the Country Hills Health Care and Rehabilitation Center at 1580 Broadway.
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Officers said he used a soda machine to barricade the door of an employee lounge. No one else was inside and he did not encounter other employees, police say.
Police spent about half an hour trying to negotiate with the suspect, and they called in firefighters to pry the door open.
The man surrendered to police at about 7:30 p.m.
