JACUMBA
A driver died after he suffered a medical emergency on the freeway in East County on Friday afternoon, and his car started a brush fire in the center divide, authorities said.
The incident was reported about 12:05 p.m. on westbound Interstate 8 near In-Ko-Pah Road (also known as Old Highway 80) in the Jacumba area, California Highway Patrol Officer Jim Bettencourt said.
Preliminary investigation indicates the driver, a 54-year-old El Cajon resident, pulled his 2015 Volkswagen Passat off to the right shoulder, but failed to put the car in “park,” CHP Officer Travis Garrow said.
The driver apparently took his foot off the pedal and the car drifted back onto the freeway, rolling across both westbound lanes then across brush before stopping in the center divide, Garrow said. The brush caught fire, as did the Passat.
SAN DIEGO
Two brothers wanted in connection with the shooting death of a 14-year-old Long Beach boy were arrested near the U.S.-Mexico border Friday morning after leading authorities on a car chase that reached speeds over 100 mph on San Diego freeways.
The chase started in Long Beach, but police there lost the car in the morning fog, California Highway Patrol Jim Bettencourt said. By 7 a.m., CHP officers in San Diego were advised to watch for the two men in the car. believed possibly to be headed to Mexico, CHP Officer Salvador Castro said.
Within a half-hour, officers spotted the blue Acura Integra headed southbound on Interstate 805 at Interstate 8 in Mission Valley. But when they tried to pull over the Acura, the driver hit the gas, reaching speeds of about 100 mph, Bettencourt said. They also got off and back onto the freeway at least once.
OCEANSIDE
One lane of north and south Interstate 5 north of the truck scales near Camp Pendleton remained closed early Thursday after a FedEx semi crashed into the center divider, damaging a stretch of guardrail and spilling fuel.
The crash was reported around 1:54 a.m. on northbound I-5 just north of the truck weighing station on the freeway, said California Highway Patrol Officer Jim Bettencourt.
The semi, which was pulling two trailers, crashed into the center divide and damaged about 100 feet of guardrail. About 20 gallons of fuel spilled as a result of the crash and was cleaned up by Caltrans, he said. No one was injured.
The California Highway Patrol says its officers arrested 573 suspected impaired drivers around the state over the Christmas holiday weekend, more than twice the number arrested during the holiday enforcement period a year ago.
Some of that increase comes from when the holiday fell during the week. With Christmas on a Friday, the holiday enforcement was spread over four days from Dec. 24 through Dec. 27 compared to a three-day enforcement period in 2019, said CHP Officer Jim Bettencourt.
In 2019, 271 drivers were arrested on suspicion of DUI.
In San Diego County, the California Highway Patrol saw a similar surge in arrests. In 2019, the CHP arrested 15 drivers on suspicion of DUI over the holiday enforcement period, while this year there were 30 arrests.
Suspected hit-and-run, multi-car crash shuts northbound I-5 north of Oceanside, leaves traffic at a crawl [The San Diego Union-Tribune]
A multi-car crash on northbound Interstate 5 north of Interstate 5 left two people badly injured and led authorities to shut down the busy freeway to land a medical helicopter Friday morning.
The crash believed to be a hit-and-run was reported about 8:30 a.m. in the vicinity of the Aliso Creek Rest Area, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Jim Bettencourt.
The collision left one vehicle on its roof. People were trapped in a vehicle as well, but it was not clear if they were in the upside down vehicle.