CAMPO, Calif. — U.S. Border Patrol agents who tried to pull over a pickup truck they suspected had crossed into the country illegally deployed a tire-flattening device after the truck fled that resulted in the vehicle rolling over, leaving three people dead.
CAMPO, Calif. — U.S. Border Patrol agents who tried to pull over a pickup truck they suspected had crossed into the country illegally deployed a tire-flattening device after the truck fled that resulted in the vehicle rolling over, leaving three people dead.
California authorities say one woman and two men were killed in the crash Thursday afternoon on westbound Interstate 8 in Campo. Another eight men who were in the pickup were injured in the crash about 60 miles (96 kilometers) east of San Diego.
California Highway Patrol spokesman Officer Travis Garrow says a male driver and a female passenger were believed to be seated in the cab of the truck, and nine men were in the bed.
Witnesses say the pickup was weaving through traffic and traveling at speeds of more than 100 mph.
The Border Patrol said the chase began after agents discovered tire tracks for several cars that went from the international border up north into the U.S. The agency calls such incidents “drive-throughs” or instances in which cars illegally enter the U.S., often through remote areas that don’t have border fencing.
They found a piece of a vehicle that they recognized as likely being from a pickup truck spotted nearby 10 minutes later.
Agents tried to stop the pickup, but it fled, entering and exiting I-8 twice.
Agents then deployed a tire deflation device, and the truck lost control within a minute, crashing and rolling over. Some passengers were ejected.
The Border Patrol has been involved in several fatal pursuit crashes, including one in Texas this June in which five of 12 passengers in a car being chased by agents died. In March 2016, two people were killed while in a car that was fleeing Border Patrol agents on I-8 near Yuma.
The driver of Thursday’s incident is a U.S. citizen in custody of California police.
