A suspected reckless driver led San Diego police on a bizarre Sunday morning chase that wound through city streets and ended on a busy beach, where surprised beachgoers looked on as officers arrested him.
The incident unfolded shortly before 7:30 a.m. after San Diego police received several reports of a man driving dangerously in the Pacific Beach area, the department told News Media.
Callers told police the driver of a tan or gold Nissan Frontier was spinning donuts in parking lots, coming close to hitting other vehicles and possibly crashing into curbs and a retaining wall.
Officers reached the neighborhood within minutes and saw the pickup traveling west toward the coast. When one officer tried to pull the vehicle over, police said the driver refused to stop, triggering a pursuit.
Griffin Charles Foy raises his hands beside a Nissan Frontier as San Diego police move in after a pursuit that ended on the beach. (Tracie Schmidt / @tracieschmidtsandiego)
Officers eventually terminated the pursuit because of what police described as the driver’s “increasing wanton disregard to public safety.”
San Diego police gather near Griffin Charles Foy after authorities said he led officers on multiple pursuits before driving onto Pacific Beach. (Tracie Schmidt / @tracieschmidtsandiego)
Police later located the truck again, but the driver allegedly failed to yield a second time, sparking another pursuit that officers also terminated.
By then, police said the Nissan was wanted in connection with felony evading, and officers saturated the area in an effort to locate it.
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Officers eventually spotted the truck again driving slowly but held off on another attempted stop until the department’s ABLE, or Airborne Law Enforcement, helicopter was overhead and able to track it.
The helicopter followed the Nissan as it drove onto the beach and headed toward the water, police said.
San Diego police move in to arrest a suspect after a wild pursuit ended on the sand in Pacific Beach. (Tracie Schmidt / @tracieschmidtsandiego)
Video from the scene shows stunned beachgoers watching as officers converge on the pickup on the sand. The driver, identified by police as 25-year-old Griffin Charles Foy, is seen outside the truck with his hands raised as officers move in to detain him.
A police K-9 was also at the scene but was not deployed during Foy’s arrest, authorities said.
Police said officers conducted a high-risk vehicle stop because of the nature of the alleged violations and Foy’s “disregard to public safety.”
Foy was taken into custody without further incident.
He was booked into San Diego Central Jail on charges of felony evading a peace officer with wanton disregard for safety, obstructing or resisting a peace officer and driving under the influence of drugs, according to police.
Despite the chaotic pursuit, police said no one was injured.