Officer Hurt in Chase of Car Theft Suspect

A San Clemente police sergeant was hospitalized with a dislocated elbow Monday night when she fell while chasing a suspected car thief believed to have recently escaped from a juvenile detention facility.

Sgt. Nelda Gonzalez, who was one of several officers and a police helicopter involved in the chase, slipped and fell into a hole in a bluff area near Camino San Clemente, Police Lt. Hector Rivera said. The suspect escaped, Rivera said.

The chase began shortly after 6:30 p.m., when a San Clemente police officer spotted a van near the intersection of Avenida Pico and Calle de Industrias that had earlier in the day been reported stolen, Rivera said. The officer, joined by several others, followed the van to the 200 block of Camino San Clemente where the youth turned into a short cul-de-sac, crashed into a fence and jumped out and ran toward the bluffs, Rivera said.

Gonzalez was injured when she ran with a group of officers after the juvenile. She was taken to Samaritan Medical Center-San Clemente for treatment.

The juvenile reportedly had escaped from the Los Pinos detention facility.