Two dead after fleeing Border Patrol checkpoint
May 14th, 2008 @ 11:59am
by KTAR Newsroom

A chase that started at a Border Patrol checkpoint near Yuma ended with two suspects shooting themselves on Interstate 10 west of Casa Grande Wednesday morning.

Pinal County sheriff's officers and the Border Patrol, and possibly other law enforcement agencies, were involved in the chase.

Mario Escalante with the Border Patrol said the incident started at a checkpoint along the Arizona-Mexico border near Yuma when the suspects were told to pull over to a secondary checkpoint so a drug-sniffing dog could check their vehicle.

``The driver failed to listen to the agent at the checkpoint and took off from the checkpoint," Escalante said. ``Our agents followed at a controlled speed just to see where the vehicle was going."

At some point, other agencies joined the chase and the vehicle was stopped after tire spikes were placed in the roadway near Stanfield, he said.

Mike Minter of the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said deputies surrounded the vehicle as it stopped.

``Officers heard two shots, approached the vehicle and found the suspects inside had shot themselves," Minter said.

Escalante and Minter said no law enforcement officers fired shots.


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