Border Patrol chase of smuggling suspect ends in crash; 9 injured

Nine people were injured, one critically, when an SUV driven by a person suspected of human smuggling crashed Sunday while being chased by Border Patrol agents near Lake Morena east of San Diego.

The agents tried to pull over the Chevrolet Trailblazer, which was headed east on state Route 94 in the Campo area, at about 11:40 a.m., said Mark Endicott, a supervisory Border Patrol agent for the San Diego sector.

The driver sped off and crashed into a boulder about 15 minutes later off Lake Morena Drive near the entrance to Lake Morena County Park, Endicott said. The SUV was the only vehicle involved in the crash.

All nine people in the SUV were hurt. Two people suffered minor injuries, six were moderately injured and one person was in critical condition, Cal Fire Capt. Issac Sanchez said. He didn’t know whether it was the driver or a passenger who was seriously hurt.

Lyndsay Winkley is a reporter with the San Diego Union-Tribune.

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