BP agents arrest 1, recover stolen vehicle

Border Patrol agents assigned to the Wellton station arrested one person and recovered a stolen vehicle after the driver led agents on a short vehicle pursuit Tuesday night.

Agent Alicia Lizama, a spokeswoman for the Yuma Sector Border Patrol, said at about 10 p.m., an 18-year-old male driving a 2000 Honda Civic drove into the Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 8 near Dateland.

Lizama said during a primary inspection of the vehicle, Border Patrol agents noticed that the driver was not coherently responding to their basic questions and directed the man to pull into secondary inspection area.

The driver, however, refused and sped away from the checkpoint, Lizama said, knocking the agents away from the vehicle.

"Basically he took off with no regards to the safety of the agents or anyone else around the vehicle," Lizama said. "The driver sped away without ever going into secondary."

Lizama said agents attempted to stop the vehicle as it continued eastbound on Interstate 8, but the driver refused to yield to the agents’ emergency lights and sirens.

The driver then continued eastbound on Interstate 8 in excess of the posted speed limit, Lizama said, while making several erratic maneuvers, including driving westbound in the eastbound lanes.

In order to stop the vehicle, Lizama said agents successfully deployed a controlled tire deflation device.

The driver then stopped in the median and yelled at Border Patrol agents to shoot him. When agents would not shoot him, Lizama said he got back into his vehicle and headed eastbound at about five miles per hour.

"At this point his tires were flat," Lizama said.

The driver eventually pulled onto the south side of the interstate, got out of his vehicle and began running south into the desert.

Lizama said after a short foot pursuit, agents took the driver into custody and transported him back to the Wellton Border Patrol Station.

Records checks revealed that the Honda Civic, which had been hot wired, was reported stolen out of Yuma. Agents turned the vehicle over to the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office.