CHULA VISTA, Calif. _ A passenger died and four other people were injured Thursday in a Border Patrol pursuit that ended in a rollover crash on state Route 125 in Chula Vista, a federal official said.
The collision marks at least the fourth Border Patrol chase to end in death in less than two years in San Diego County.
The pursuit began after agents spotted four people suspected of illegally entering the country get into an SUV on Alta Road in Otay Mesa, Acting Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Theron Francisco said in a statement. The agents attempted to pull over the vehicle, but the driver sped off, heading north on Route 125.
Shortly before 7 a.m. _ about four minutes after the pursuit began _ the driver lost control near Olympic Parkway and overturned, officials said. At least one passenger was ejected. The driver and other passengers were seriously injured.
"Callous smugglers who fail to yield and choose to flee law enforcement will routinely use dangerous tactics with no regard for the lives of their passengers or the driving public," Francisco said.
Investigators did not release the ages or genders of any of the people involved in the crash. The person who died was not identified.
All lanes of north and south Route 125 between Olympic Parkway and Otay Lakes Road and a couple of on-ramps were closed while officers cleared the wreckage and investigated the crash. A northbound and a southbound lane were reopened about 9:35 a.m.
Border Patrol agents engaged in more than 500 pursuits in border districts in California, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona with one in three ending in a crash, according to a review of thousands of criminal complaints filed against suspected human smugglers from 2015 to 2018, ProPublica and the Los Angeles Times recently reported.
Thursday's incident became at least the fourth local Border Patrol pursuit to end in a fatal crash within the last two years.
In August 2017, three people died and one was hurt when a GMC Envoy linked to a suspected murderer sped away from Border Patrol agents and crashed off Interstate 15 in Rancho Bernardo.
Three people were killed and eight more were injured in November 2018 when a pickup fleeing Border Patrol agents hit a spike strip, veered into an embankment and overturned on west Interstate 8 near Boulevard.
On Feb. 19, two men were killed and a woman was critically injured when their vehicle crashed into a semi-truck during a Border Patrol chase.
Border Patrol policy states agents may get involved in pursuits only when the benefit outweighs any immediate danger created by speeding or other emergency driving techniques. Agents consider a variety of factors including speed, traffic and weather, to determine if they should engage in or continue a pursuit, officials have said.
The most recent version of the agency's policy was crafted in 2007. It was reviewed in 2010 and has remained in place since then, Francisco confirmed Thursday.
