SUV said to be transporting illegal immigrants overturns

UNION-TRIBUNE BREAKING NEWS TEAM

1:26 p.m. July 30, 2008

SAN DIEGO – An SUV suspected of being used to transport illegal immigrants overturned on a North County road Wednesday morning, injuring the four occupants, the Border Patrol reported.

A marked Border Patrol unit had been pursuing the Ford Explorer prior to the crash, but had broken off the chase for safety reasons and left it to unmarked Border Patrol units to keep the Explorer under surveillance, said Border Parol spokesman Jason Rodgers.

Agents in the marked unit tried to stop the Explorer on westbound state Route 78 near Julian about 10 a.m., but the Explorer driver refused to stop, Rodgers said. About nine minutes later, with the road approaching a populated area and a series of S-curves, the agents decided to break off the pursuit, Rodgers said.

A short time later, an undercover Border Patrol unit spotted the Explorer overturned just off Old Julian Highway, and three people running through a nearby field. The driver was still inside the SUV, Rodgers said.

The other three were quickly caught; all had been injured, the spokesman said. The driver and one passenger were airlifted to an area hospital with head, neck and back injuries, Rodgers said. The other two were driven to an area hospital via ambulance.

The driver and the passenger who were airlifted are both suspected of being smugglers, said Rodgers.
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