SAN DIEGO — A driver suspected of firing several rounds into a park and then leading police on a chase was arrested after he crashed into several parked vehicles in Hillcrest Sunday afternoon, police said.
The shooting occurred around 1 p.m. at Emerald Hills Park off Kelton Road, just south of state Route 94. Undercover San Diego police detectives saw the gunman pull up in a black car and fire the gunshots, police Lt. Christian Sharp told OnScene TV.
There were no immediate reports of injuries, police said.
As the gunman drove away, officers in marked police vehicles tried to stop the car, but the man kept driving.
During the pursuit, police ran the car's license plate number and realized the vehicle was stolen in an armed carjacking Friday, Sharp said.
As officers gave chase, the driver traveled west through several neighborhoods until he crashed into parked vehicles on Myrtle Avenue, west of Richmond Street.
A witness told OnScene TV that he and family members were playing croquet on a front lawn in Hillcrest when he heard a loud engine. He turned and saw the car smash into an SUV, careen "out of control," hit another car, go airborne and then hit the hood of a Jeep. The car then smashed into another parked vehicle and came to a stop.
"It was like a bomb went off," the witness said.
Sharp added, "It looks like (the driver) was kind of ping-ponging off both sides of the street as he went down at a high rate of speed."
The driver jumped out of the car and ran, but a police helicopter helped officers "close in" on him, Sharp said. He was arrested soon after.
Officers recovered a firearm from the car, Sharp said.
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