Killed After High-Speed Chase : Man Shot at Pendleton Was Escaped Prisoner

The man who was shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent Tuesday night at Camp Pendleton after he ran the San Onofre checkpoint has been identified as an escapee from a Michigan prison who went on a crime spree there after fleeing, authorities said.

The San Diego County coroner’s office identified the victim as Anthony Scott Tyler, 24.

Detective Jack Schoder of the Sheriff’s Department in Calhoun County, Mich., said Tyler was serving a 6- to 15-year sentence for embezzlement and breaking and entering when he escaped Sept. 19 from Lakeland Prison near Coldwater, Mich.

Schoder said Tyler stole a prison van and drove it to Coldwater, where he stole another car that soon broke down. The next day, he stole cash and a shotgun from a residence near Battle Creek, according to Schoder, and walked two miles to another house where he held a family at gunpoint and then took their car.

The Calhoun County Sheriff’s Department issued an alert for the car. Deputies in neighboring Kalamazoo County recognized the vehicle and chased it at high speed into a wooded area, where the driver fled on foot. Schoder said a helicopter and officers from several police agencies searched for Tyler, but he swam across a river and escaped.

Schoder said Tyler was a suspect in the theft of a pickup truck in Michigan on Sept. 21, but aside from unconfirmed reports that he had been seen in his hometown of Muskegon, police had lost track of him until Tuesday.

FBI Agent Gary Laturno said the Border Patrol agent who shot Tyler acted in self-defense. He said Tyler was driving a car stolen earlier that day in Vista and knew he faced jail again if caught.

Gene Smithburg, an assistant chief Border Patrol agent, said Tyler “had every opportunity to give himself up.”

He said the California Highway Patrol alerted Border Patrol agents at the San Onofre checkpoint at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday that an erratically moving car with a smashed windshield was headed toward them. As the car approached, “We directed him to go to the shoulder, and he just floored it,” Smithburg said.

Border Patrol agents pursued Tyler at speeds up to 100 m.p.h. as he drove north on Interstate 5 to Basilone Road, where he went sped past a base guard post. Two agents pursued Tyler on foot after he abandoned the car, but as Tyler was being handcuffed, he attacked one of them with a knife and escaped into the bush.

After two more hours of searching by the Border Patrol, Marines and a helicopter, an agent found Tyler, who reportedly lunged at the agent with the knife. The agent fell backward and shot Tyler in the chest.