San Francisco Cops Search For ‘Dangerous’ Car Chase Suspect Who Got Away
San Francisco was the site of a wild police car chase Tuesday afternoon, involving a suspect cops describe as “dangerous” — and who is still on the loose.
The latest reports coming in after 4 pm Pacific Time Tuesday indicated that San Francisco police were still combing the city’s Potrero Hill district, on the east side of San Francisco, looking for the man who stole a Saab automobile earlier in the day.
The chase began shortly after noon when San Francisco officers spotted the stolen vehicle near 25th and Dakota Streets, and attempted to pull the driver over.
Instead, the suspect drove off at high speed.
Officers chased him briefly, but stopped when they judged that the chase, careering through crowded San Francisco streets at midday, was simply too hazardous.
Some time later, the driver of the stolen Saab attempted to squeeze between two cars stopped at a red light at 19th and Third Streets in the San Francisco neighborhood known as Dogpatch, but the car didn’t make it.
The Saab became “sandwiched,” police said, between the two other vehicles. One of the other drivers was injured in that collision, though not seriously.
When police arrived on the scene with the Saab still jammed in place, the suspect hit the gas and drove the stolen vehicle directly at the San Francisco cops.
Police opened fire on the Saab, but the suspect just kept going. He escaped the officers again. Police said they did not know whether the driver was wounded by their gunfire. Later, the suspect abandoned the car which police located near the same place they first saw it, on the east side of San Francisco.
They found a jacket that they believed was worn by the suspect, but the fugitive himself was gone.
“The suspect showed clear disregard for public safety,” Officer Albie Esparza told the SF Weekly newspaper’s online edition. “We don’t know if he is armed, but clearly any person who has such wanton disregard for the public and attempts to mow down an officer is a dangerous person.”
San Francisco police took down their perimeter around the Potrero Terrace housing complex at around 2 pm, but continue to search for the “dangerous” suspect.
