Deputies shoot suspect at end of wild pursuit through San Bernardino County
Deputies shot a possibly armed and dangerous driver at the end of a wild pursuit through San Bernardino County late Monday evening.
The investigation on the I-15 Freeway at the Cajon Pass continued Tuesday morning and into early afternoon, affecting drivers throughout the day.
The Monday night chase began when they attempted to pull the driver over after an armed robbery at a home in Hesperia, deputies said.
At times, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department deputies said that the driver was hurtling along roads at speeds reaching triple digits.
Deputies say that the suspect is known to them, but did not disclose the crime that they had committed to reach that status. They did report that the suspect had two handguns whenever the alleged crime occurred.
While SBSD deputies chased the dark blue Infiniti on the street, Ontario Police Department was assisting with the chase from their helicopter above.
At around 9:45 p.m., the suspect got onto northbound lanes of I-15, heading towards the Cajon Pass, which is where the chase began and where officers believe the person lives.
As the chase continued into the high desert, deputies successfully performed a PIT maneuver on the suspect's vehicle, bringing the chase to a very brief stop.
Despite this, they refused to get out of their vehicle and surrender, prompting a minutes-long standoff with deputies before they attempted to drive away from deputies.
They again PIT maneuvered the suspect, three additional times as they attempted to flee and somehow, the vehicle did not become disabled, still trying to drive away.
With five SBSD patrol cars following closely, they were able to successfully box the vehicle, bumping into both the suspect's car and each other's vehicles finally bringing the chase to an end.
Deputies opened fire at some point, and the suspect was struck multiple times. Their condition was unknown as a San Bernardino County Fire Department ambulance arrived to provide treatment and take them to a nearby hospital.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department identified the suspect Tuesday morning as 39-year-old Robert Brown of Hesperia. "The suspect is hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries, at this time," the department said.
One deputy was stuck inside their vehicle after the pursuit came to a stop.
Deputies closed both sides of I-15 for the investigation. It was unclear when lanes would reopen. California Highway Patrol officers also arrived on scene to provide assistance with traffic control, but they said that Caltrans had been contacted for a hard closure so that the investigation could continue.
With SkyCal overhead, the massive snarl of traffic could be seen building up on both sides of the freeway before southbound lanes were opened about 15 minutes later. The northbound lanes remained impacted with no clear timetable for when they would be reopened.
