NBC 7’s Dave Summers spoke with truckers whose rigs were damaged by suspected street racers.
A suspected street racer led authorities on a wild pursuit through San Diego, at one point crashing with a law enforcement vehicle, before the chase ended in a crash near the U.S.-Mexico border Sunday night.
Officers attempted to pull over a red Nissan 370z for street racing at about 11:40 p.m., San Diego police said. When the driver failed to stop, a chase began, although it was unclear where.
At one point during the pursuit, the driver crashed into a U.S. Border Patrol vehicle, USBP said. It was not disclosed if the vehicle was assisting SDPD with the chase or was uninvolved. USBP said their officers were uninjured in the incident.
The driver also hit an SDPD patrol car, and the chase came to an end when they crashed into a semi-truck parked on Kerns Street in Otay Mesa. Ken Kirschnick and his wife Sheryl are long-haul truckers and owners of the big rig. They say the Nissan going 100 mph when it slammed into their full gas tank, which is right under the rear of the cab where they sleep.
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Parts of the Nissan, including one of its front wheels, were lodged beneath the cab of the semi-truck in the crash. Despite the nasty wreck, no injuries were reported.
The Kirschnicks said they'll be out of work for at least six weeks.
The Nissan driver was taken into custody, SDPD said. The driver was not identified and it was not immediately clear what charges were pending.
