SAN DIEGO (CNS) - Authorities Monday released video footage of a police shooting that left a gun-toting auto-theft suspect wounded in a University City-area neighborhood earlier this month.
Justin Ray Teague, 39, allegedly fired a shot at San Diego Police Department Officer Joseph Lee with a pistol during a foot chase near Doyle Community Park, prompting the lawman to open fire on him, according to the San Diego Police Department.
Teague was hospitalized for treatment of several bullet wounds, sheriff's Lt. Joseph Jarjura said. He was released from medical care four days later and booked into San Diego Central Jail on an array felony charges, including attempted murder of a peace officer.
The events that led to the law enforcement gunfire began shortly after 3 a.m. Aug. 11, when police got a report that two men were breaking into vehicles in an underground parking structure at an apartment complex in the 3400 block of Lebon Drive.
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Officers searched the area, finding Teague and the second suspect inside a stolen Ford F-150, according to Jarjura. Teague, the driver, tried to speed off, but, finding the only exit from the garage blocked by SDPD patrol vehicles, jumped out along with his cohort and ran off.
As Lee gave chase, his uniform-worn camera recording the event, Teague turned and allegedly fired a shot at him. Lee then returned fire, discharging about a dozen rounds from his service pistol.
Lee and the other officers involved in the pursuit were uninjured.
The second suspect escaped.
It was the second time that Teague, a felon with convictions dating back several decades, was wounded by police gunfire in San Diego.
On the evening of Nov. 8, 2003, Teague -- then 19 years old and the subject of two outstanding arrest warrants -- rammed an SDPD cruiser with a stolen car at a gas station at Clairemont Mesa Boulevard and Kearny Villa Road in Kearny Mesa, then accelerated toward an officer who was on foot, according to SDPD officials.
That lawman and a pair of his colleagues responded by opening fire on the suspect, leaving him with two gunshot wounds to his upper body.
Despite his injuries, Teague drove off, fleeing for a short distance before crashing the vehicle into a retaining wall alongside state Route 163, where he was taken into custody, SDPD Sgt. Jorge Duran said at the time.
That same year, Teague was convicted of burglary. He went on to be sentenced for auto theft in 2004 and, in 2017, was convicted of possessing a stolen car, committing identity theft and recklessly fleeing from police in a vehicle, Jarjura said.
Last month, Teague was arrested on suspicion of auto theft, evading police, reckless driving and possession of a stolen vehicle. He posted bail that same day and was released on bond, the sheriff's lieutenant said.
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