Border Patrol Chase Sparks 3-Vehicle Accident; 7 Hurt

Seven people were injured Saturday in a three-vehicle accident after the driver of a stolen pickup truck carrying 15 illegal aliens fled Border Patrol agents, authorities reported.

The driver of the truck and a passenger were arrested by the Border Patrol on suspicion of smuggling and transporting illegal aliens, patrol spokesman Wayne Kirkpatrick said.

The agents had abandoned the chase in heavy traffic, but the truck continued on before rear-ending another truck, pushing it into a car ahead of it at the San Ysidro border, authorities said.

Shortly before 10 a.m., the agents spotted a 1972 GMC truck with a covered bed westbound on Otay Mesa Road just east of California 117, Kirkpatrick said.

“The agents determined the same vehicle had been pursued the previous day (by patrol agents who) suspected it to be used for transporting illegal aliens,” he said. “They also determined the vehicle had been reported stolen several days ago.”

Agents chased the truck onto westbound California 117 and then southbound Interstate 5. The chase continued at high speeds on Interstate 5 until about half a mile north of the border, where the agents discontinued their pursuit because of heavy traffic, Kirkpatrick said.

“The driver of the truck continued toward the border, driving erratically and at high speeds through heavy traffic,” he said. “It (the truck) was moving from the fast to slow lane in an apparent attempt to find an open route to the crossing.”

About 100 yards north of the border, the truck moved into the far right lane at about 45 miles an hour, Kirkpatrick said. The truck slammed into the rear of the Ford pickup, which had stopped because of traffic, and it hit the compact car in front of it. No one in the compact was hurt, authorities said.

Two children in the GMC truck, Javier Contreras, 4, and Elzia Rios, 12, were in good condition at Children’s Hospital, spokeswoman Terry Merryman said.

Ramon Beles, 21, was in fair condition at UC San Diego Medical Center, a hospital spokeswoman said. Hector Quesada, age unknown, was in good condition there. Both men were passengers in the GMC and are believed to be Mexican nationals.

Another passenger in the GMC, Hector Castro, 22, was taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital in Chula Vista, where he was treated before being released to the Border Patrol, authorities said.

Two other people involved in the accident, including the driver of the Ford pickup, were taken to the emergency room of Chula Vista Community Hospital, where they were treated and released, a hospital spokeswoman said. Their names were unavailable.

The two arrested men were identified as Baltazar Garcia Andrade, 28, driver of the GMC, and a passenger, Jose Alvarado Ortega, 21. The other passengers in the truck not injured in the accident were being questioned before being deported back to Mexico, Kirkpatrick said.