Suspect Shot After Chase

A Chula Vista police officer shot a fleeing robbery suspect Saturday evening after the suspect had led police on a vehicle chase through city streets and down Interstate 5 toward the U.S.-Mexico border.

The suspect, whose name was not available, suffered a single shot to the buttocks that was not life threatening, said Lt. Dan Wolf of the Chula Vista Police Department. He was taken by ambulance to UC San Diego Medical Center.

The suspect, who brandished a shotgun in an alleged robbery attempt earlier in the evening, will be questioned in connection with almost a dozen robberies in the Chula Vista and San Diego areas, Wolf said.

At 6:18 p.m. Saturday, Wolf said the suspect allegedly attempted to rob a woman at shotgun-point in Chula Vista. He fled the scene in a car that matched the vehicle seen leaving similar robberies, Wolf said.

A Chula Vista police officer spotted the suspect’s car in the 1300 block of Third Avenue, triggering a sometimes high-speed chase toward the U.S.-Mexico border, authorities said.

Along Monument Road in San Diego, Lt. Wolf said, the suspect and three other people jumped out of the car and began to run. A Chula Vista police officer who had been in pursuit fired at the fleeing suspect, police said.