San Diego : 2 Caught After Freeway Chase
A 90-mile freeway chase came to an end early Wednesday when the driver jumped off the Interstate 805 bridge over Mission Valley and landed on a ramp leading to Interstate 8, breaking both legs.
Ramon Pina, 29, of Tijuana, was driving a stolen car when police officers in the Orange County city of Tustin tried to stop him at 1:55 a.m., said Lt. Mark Gregg of the California Highway Patrol.
Pina took off, leading Tustin police and CHP officers south on Interstate 5 through southern Orange and northern San Diego counties. Speeds at times topped 90 m.p.h., Gregg said.
Pina and passenger Jabel Rivera, 19, of Duarte, continued south on I-805 from I-5, blowing a front tire at La Jolla Village Drive and blowing the engine on the bridge over Mission Valley.
Pina then ran across southbound traffic lanes, jumped a railing, and fell 40 feet. He was taken to Mercy Hospital, where he was in fair condition with multiple fractures to both legs after surgery, a spokesman there said.
Rivera climbed a nearby tree, where he was located by a San Diego police dog.
They were arrested on suspicion of auto theft and evading pursuit, Gregg said.
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