An investigation is underway in El Cajon after law enforcement officers opened fire on a man who tried to ram them with a truck that was reported stolen, according to the San Diego Police Department.
Authorities received a report of a stolen Toyota Tacoma out of Alpine on Thursday and that vehicle was spotted later in the evening on Oro Street in El Cajon.
San Diego County Sheriff’s Department (SDSO) deputies set up surveillance on the truck and decided to recover the vehicle after not seeing anyone approach it. They then observed a man in the driver’s seat and ordered him out of the truck.
According to SDPD Lt. Steve Shebloski, the driver disobeyed commands and instead put the truck in reverse and crashed it into a parked car. The driver then drove forward and struck the deputies’ patrol vehicle, prompting an officer to open fire on the man, Shebloski said.
The driver continued traveling north on Oro Street, instigating a brief pursuit. The pursuit ended after the truck crashed near Greenfield Drive and 2nd Street.
The suspect then tried to hide in a shed in the backyard of an area home, and residents called 911.
Eros Navarro, who lives near the area, recalled the sirens that were heard approaching his neighborhood at the time of the events.
“My mother-in-law came in saying, ‘I hear some noise,’ and I’m hearing police cars going in back and forth, back and forth, and the helicopter isn’t moving,” Navarro said. “And so he goes to the window and looks at it because the neighbor’s dog is going crazy, too, and he says he sees a guy jump over a fence and duck down, put his hoodie on.”
After surrendering to police, the man was taken into custody and is not facing charges that include auto theft, assault with a deadly weapon and evading a peace officer.
Shebloski said the driver, who was identified only as a 25-year-old man, was hospitalized with two gunshot wounds to the legs and injuries from the crash.
