SAN DIEGO : Driver in Hospital After Freeway Chase
A drunk-driving suspect was hospitalized for injuries he suffered Monday when he crashed while leading police on a freeway chase after he nearly hit a road repair crew, authorities said.
Samuel Vasquez Atempa, 31, of San Diego was reported in serious condition at UCSD Medical Center after the 10-minute chase on the Interstate 15 and California 163 freeways ended in downtown San Diego.
California Highway Patrol Sgt. Steve Vail said a motorist called the CHP from his car phone at 10:18 a.m. and said that a swerving car had nearly struck a Caltrans crew doing shoulder work on I-15 near Felicita Road in Escondido.
Atempa then passed a CHP car near the southbound junction of Interstate 15 and California 163, and did not pull over when officers tried to make him do so, Vail said.
He led the officers down the 163, at times at about 75 m.p.h., through Balboa Park before he tried to exit the freeway at Ash Street at about 50 m.p.h., Vail said.
“He went airborne and hit three parked cars” and was pinned inside his car, Vail said.
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