City Heights

Hour-Long Carjacking Spree Ends With Two in Custody Following Brief Pursuit

San Diego Police robbery detectives are examining whether two carjackings and three other attempts, in the span of less than one hour, are related

An up-close image of a San Diego Police Department cruiser on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022.
NBC 7

Two men are in custody Wednesday following a fifty-minute carjacking spree that spanned through City Heights ending in Carmel Mountain.

At around 8:15 p.m. Wednesday, a man in the Chollas Creek neighborhood of City Heights reported to San Diego Police that he had been the victim of a violent carjacking.

The victim claimed his vehicle, a 2000 Nissan Maxima, had been taken by six males at gunpoint, who were last seen leaving the area with his vehicle in an unspecified direction. Officers responded to the area along Altadena Avenue near Marshall Elementary School and met the uninjured victim.

As that investigation was ongoing, roughly 45 minutes later, another man reported he was involved in a collision that had occurred during a carjacking attempt in the Carmel Mountain neighborhood.

The victim reported to police that he was sitting in his vehicle behind the Ralphs and Rite Aid shopping center, along World Trade Drive near Stoney Peak Drive, when he was "approached by a group of five men" and believed they were trying to enter his vehicle, according to San Diego Police officer John Buttle.

Buttle added, as the owner of this car thwarted the carjacking attempt and tried to drive to safety, he struck one of the five, leaving them with unknown injuries.

The driver crossed the street to the shopping center in the 12000 block of Carmel Mountain Road where he reported the incident to the police.

One of the five men was described as being in his 20s and wearing dark baggy clothing.

Just three minutes later, a woman in her green Honda Civic, near the Rite Aid in the same shopping center, claims to have been confronted by two men in their 20s, one of who had a handgun.

These men, the woman told police, attempted to carjack her. The female refused to give up her vehicle and was able to report the incident to the police.

The two men were able to vacate the area in an unknown direction.

Another three minutes later, San Diego Police officers received reports that a robbery at the Ralphs store, also in the same shopping center along Carmel Mountain Road. The victim told police he had his car, a 2013 white Volkswagen Beetle, taken by a single, indescribable male during a carjacking.

At 9:05 p.m., responding officers spotted the stolen Volkswagen, which was then "occupied by five suspects," said Buttle.

Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the vehicle didn't stop for the officers. After a brief pursuit throughout the area, the vehicle came to a stop in a Petco store parking lot.

One of the five inside, who remained in the vehicle, was taken into custody without incident. The other occupants ran from the vehicle in several directions, leading to an hours-long search.

After exhausting search efforts, only one other male was located.

At about 9:25 p.m., a woman who had been dropping off an Instacart order, in an apartment complex adjacent to the Ralphs shopping center, reported to police that roughly 15 minutes prior, she had been confronted by five men, one who was holding a handgun, all attempted to take her vehicle.

As the woman had other orders to deliver, she refused to give them her vehicle and drove away.

The five incidents remain under investigation by the San Diego Police Department's Robbery Division. The two men taken into custody were arrested on unspecified charges related to these incidents.

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