CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / RIVERSIDE
A sheriff’s deputy shot and killed a motorist who drove at him in a pickup after a highway pursuit, police said.
California Highway Patrol officers tried to pull over the speeding pickup driver about 5:45 p.m. Thursday in Hemet, but he refused to yield, said Sgt. Dennis Gutierrez, a spokesman for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. CHP officers pursued the man to Temecula, where they requested assistance from the Sheriff’s Department.
The man drove onto the Keyways Vineyard and Winery at 37388 De Portola Road, where he accelerated toward the sheriff’s squad car near the entrance. The deputy responded by firing his service rifle at the driver. It was unclear how fast the man was driving before he was shot, Gutierrez said.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene, and the motive was under investigation.
“Maybe once we get him identified, we’ll be able to figure out why,” Gutierrez said, adding that the pickup had lost or stolen license plates.
The deputy, whose name was not released, has been in law enforcement eight years, including four with the Sheriff’s Department.
-- James Wagner
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