Border Agents Seize 3 After 60-Mile Chase

U.S. Border Patrol agents chased a pickup truck for 60 miles on Interstate 5 from San Diego County to the City of Commerce on Tuesday after the driver, a suspected illegal immigrant, failed to pull over at an immigration checkpoint, authorities said.

Agents at the checkpoint near San Onofre instructed a man driving a 1988 Chevrolet pickup with two women passengers to pull into the inspection area shortly after 4:30 p.m., said Border Patrol spokesman Steve Kean.

Instead of complying, the truck sped north on the freeway, and two Border Patrol cars pursued, Kean said.

The chase continued north for 48 minutes at an average of 75 m.p.h., he said. It ended when the driver of a blue van used his vehicle to force the pickup truck to a stop at the Camfield Avenue exit ramp in Commerce, Kean said.

“Apparently he saw it going on and forced the suspect vehicle off the road,” Kean said. “There were no injuries and there was no damage.”

Agents arrested the 21-year-old driver of the pickup and the two women, ages 19 and 29. All three are Mexican citizens and believed to be illegal immigrants, Kean said.