A motorist who led authorities on a brief pursuit through the City Heights area stopped on the southbound Interstate 805 transition ramp to Interstate 8 in the Mission Valley area Friday morning, shutting down the transition ramp and prompting a two-and-a-half hour standoff before the driver was taken into custody.
Dispatchers received multiple calls around 5 a.m. from motorists who reported a sedan blocking lanes on the northbound I-805 near El Cajon Boulevard, California Highway Patrol Officer Jim Bettencourt said.
When officers responded and attempted to contact the car’s driver, he took off.
The driver exited at El Cajon Boulevard and began running red lights before hopping back on northbound I-805, Bettencourt said.
The driver then turned around at Murray Ridge Road, entered southbound I-805 and continued fleeing before stopping on the elevated transition ramp to I-8, the officer said, adding that the pursuit lasted roughly two minutes.
The man then got out of the car and authorities began negotiating with him to persuade him to surrender.
Footage from a news helicopter showed the man pacing back and forth, then sitting on a railing while CHP officers and San Diego police negotiators stayed far back.
The man, whose age and name were not immediately available, was taken into custody without incident shortly before 8 a.m.
As of 8:40 a.m., the southbound I-805 transition ramp to both directions of I-8 remained closed.