7 suspected illegal immigrants injured in crash

ASSOCIATED PRESS

11:46 a.m. June 21, 2007

BOULEVARD – Seven suspected illegal immigrants were injured in rural San Diego County early Thursday when their car slammed into a tree during a Border Patrol chase.
The crash occurred about 4 a.m. on Old Highway 80, about two miles from Boulevard, an incorporated community east of San Diego, Border Patrol spokesman Richard Smith said.

Smith said agents in a marked car started the pursuit after spotting an early '90s Cadillac carrying suspected illegal immigrants. Smith said he did not know how fast the Cadillac was traveling when it went off the highway and smashed into an oak tree.

Five men and two women were injured. Three of the group were in the trunk at the time of the crash.

All seven were taken to local hospitals for treatment of various wounds.

The driver, suspected to have been the smuggler, fled the scene on foot and was not found in an ensuing two-hour search, Smith said.

The California Highway Patrol was investigating the cause of the crash.

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