A 36-year-old woman suspected of driving under the influence led San Diego police on a wrong-way chase through downtown streets shortly before midnight, ultimately slamming head-on into a patrol vehicle and sending it rolling over several times near 16th and C streets. Both the woman and the officer inside the cruiser suffered injuries in the crash and were taken to local hospitals for treatment and evaluation.
The chain of events started with a hit-and-run collision near 9th Avenue and E Street, according to Fox 5 San Diego. A reporting party told police their vehicle had been struck by a woman driving a black sedan who then refused to exchange information and took off. The reporting party said they watched the woman repeatedly fall asleep and wake up before she fled, leading them to believe she was under the influence.
Officers located the woman inside a gray Chevrolet Malibu facing northbound on the 900 block of 9th Avenue and attempted to make contact, but she fled again, prompting a pursuit through several downtown streets. Per the same account, the officer following her was driving without sirens or emergency lights at the time. Police say her driving demonstrated a disregard for public safety as she wove through the area.
Chase Called Off Before Fatal Impact
The pursuit did not end because officers caught up with her — it ended because she drove the wrong way on C Street, a maneuver that triggered San Diego police to terminate the chase altogether. Moments later, without officers actively pursuing, the woman crashed head-on into a patrol vehicle near 16th and C streets. The impact was severe enough to flip the police cruiser over multiple times, and both vehicles ended up blocking the roadway.
Medics responded to the scene, and the injured officer was receiving medical care, per SDPD. Both the officer and the suspect suffered injuries described as minor, and each was taken to a hospital for further evaluation. Police have not released the woman's name because she was still receiving medical care and had not yet been booked into jail.
Charges Expected to Stack Up
The woman is expected to face several charges, including evading a peace officer causing serious injury, DUI involving drugs, hit-and-run related to the original collision, and possession of controlled substance paraphernalia. She also had an outstanding warrant from another agency, according to Fox 5 San Diego's report.
Evading a pursuing officer in a way that causes serious injury is charged under California Vehicle Code Section 2800.3, a wobbler offense that can bring three, five, or seven years in state prison along with fines between $2,000 and $10,000, according to Esfandi Law Group. Separately, California Vehicle Code Section 23153 makes driving under the influence while causing physical harm to another person a felony punishable by up to four years in state prison, per Eisner Gorin LLP.
Termination Protocol Reflects Ongoing Pursuit Debate
The decision to call off the chase once the driver went the wrong way lines up with SDPD's written pursuit policy, which directs officers and supervisors to weigh public safety risks and end pursuits when a suspect enters oncoming traffic. That same protocol was applied during a February 2025 stolen-vehicle chase in the Midway District, when ground units called off pursuit before a suspect crashed, as reported by 619 News Media.
San Diego's pursuit policies have drawn intense scrutiny since Officer Austin Machitar, 30, was killed and his partner critically injured in August 2024 when a fleeing suspect broadsided their patrol vehicle at 90 mph in Clairemont Mesa, shortly after officers had already ended that pursuit. In the aftermath, San Diego's civilian Commission on Police Practices called for banning pursuits tied to non-violent offenses and minor traffic infractions, but Police Chief Scott Wahl formally rejected those recommendations in January 2025, arguing that restricting pursuits would compromise public safety and encourage suspects to flee, according to KPBS.
Part of a Pattern Across San Diego County
This crash follows a string of similar incidents across the region this year. Just last week, an SDPD pursuit ended in a head-on collision on Imperial Avenue that left a 66-year-old woman with serious, life-threatening injuries, as Hoodline previously reported. In June, a suspected DUI driver in a Kia Soul plowed through a police barricade into an active crash scene on El Cajon Boulevard, striking two marked patrol vehicles and injuring two sergeants. And in May, a suspected drunk driver slammed into a marked Chula Vista Police Department cruiser at Olympic Parkway, sending an officer and two vehicle occupants to trauma centers.
Statewide, the risks of vehicle pursuits are well documented. California Highway Patrol data compiled across 2023 shows law enforcement agencies logged 13,627 vehicle pursuits statewide, with roughly 19 percent ending in collisions that produced 1,646 cases of property damage and hundreds of injuries. Under California Vehicle Code Section 17004.7, municipal agencies like SDPD carry civil liability immunity for pursuit-related damage or injuries as long as they maintain and train officers on a standardized written pursuit policy.
