SANTEE, Calif. (KGTV) – A search was launched in Santee Friday morning for three people suspected of burglarizing a Clairemont store and then leading law enforcement on a pursuit on several local freeways.
At around 4 a.m., San Diego Police were alerted to a burglary at Nyala Tobacco Emporium on 5621 Balboa Ave. According to police, a worker from a nearby Vons store called 911 after spotting a group of people loading numerous boxes of cigarettes.
When officers arrived, they saw a car being driven away from the business at a high rate of speed. When officers tried to pull the vehicle over, the driver refused to stop.
The car proceeded to lead police on a chase on southbound Interstate 805, to eastbound Interstate 8, and then to northbound state Route 67. After transitioning to westbound state Route 52, the car crashed on the ramp to southbound state Route 125.
According to authorities at the scene, four males got out of the wrecked vehicle and ran away, leaving the cartons of cigarettes behind. Officers -- with the help of a K-9 -- were able to apprehend one of them.
Law enforcement officers from various local agencies spent the morning searching an area off Mission Gorge Road for the three other car occupants, but they were not found.
Descriptions of the trio were not immediately available.
The westbound SR-52 ramp to southbound SR-125 was closed due to the search, but ramp was reopened at around 6:50 a.m.
