A crash at a Carlsbad Village business on Saturday afternoon led to a pursuit that ended with the driver of a white Mercedes SUV in custody. The vehicle traveled through Oceanside and onto northbound Interstate 5 before officers stopped it.
Carlsbad police said officers responded at about 2:33 p.m. on Nov. 14 to multiple reports of the crash. FOX 5 San Diego identified the driver taken into custody as 42-year-old Nathan Robert Naggar of Temecula.
From The Village Onto The Freeway
Witnesses said the driver got out of the Mercedes and acted erratically. They believed he might be under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or both; that was their suspicion, not a confirmed finding. Officers attempted to stop him. Police said he initially stopped, then drove away.
The pursuit went through Oceanside and onto northbound I-5. The California Highway Patrol and the San Diego County Sheriff's ASTREA helicopter assisted, Carlsbad police said in an update.
Officers used spike strips to disable the SUV. Police said it came to a stop on I-5 when it could no longer move, and Naggar was taken into custody without further incident.
Probation, A Warrant, And Vista
Investigators learned that Naggar was on probation and had an active arrest warrant. FOX 5, citing a court case, reported the warrant was for vandalism.
Carlsbad police said Naggar was arrested on suspicion of DUI, felony evading and assault with a deadly weapon, as well as on the outstanding warrant. He was booked into the Vista Detention Facility. Police said the investigation is ongoing.
A Separate Pursuit Police Called Off
Police have also broken off a Carlsbad chase rather than stay with the car. In a separate pursuit, NBC 7 San Diego reported, officers called it off at Palomar Airport Road, west of Avenida Encinas, because of safety concerns. A short time later, police said, the vehicle drove off a cliff. The driver suffered life-threatening injuries and was taken to a hospital. Police said he was expected to survive.
For broader context, The San Francisco Chronicle reported that at least 3,336 people died in police vehicle pursuits from 2017 through 2022. At least 1,377 of those deaths occurred in 2020 and 2021. In a subset of more than 2,000 deaths examined in detail, at least 551 people—more than 25%—were bystanders, not the drivers being pursued.
The Chronicle reported that most of the pursuits in its analysis began over traffic offenses, nonviolent crimes or no crime at all. It cautioned that the totals likely undercount deaths because some pursuits do not appear in news reports or lawsuits.
What California pursuit reports require
The California Highway Patrol reported 13,627 pursuits statewide in 2023, with 2,593, or 19%, resulting in a crash. The CHP says the figures exclude federal-agency pursuits and were compiled from reports submitted by May 1, 2024. State law requires agencies to document pursuits and submit reports to the CHP within 30 days. Separate from those reporting requirements, California POST’s 2022 pursuit guidelines call on agencies to establish procedures for post-pursuit analysis and written review. The guidance does not establish what Carlsbad’s policy is or what review, if any, followed this incident.
People with information about the Village crash or Saturday's pursuit can call the Carlsbad police watch commander at (442) 339-2197.
