A San Diego police officer was killed and a second officer was seriously injured in a fiery crash following a brief pursuit in Clairemont late Monday that also killed the fleeing driver, officials said.
Officer Austin Machitar, 30, a 5 1/2-year veteran of the department, died at the scene while his partner, Zachary Martinez, 27, who had been riding in the enger seat, was taken to a hospital in critical condition, police officials said.
San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl described the fallen officer as having “a very infectious smile and a character that made him one of a kind.” Machitar is survived by his parents and sister, the chief said at a news conference Tuesday evening.
“Austin was the kind of guy you wanted on your team. Athletic. He was a competitor. He had a ion for training. He was one of our field training officers,” an emotional Wahl said. “In fact, his partner last night was his trainee back in 2023.”
Both men worked at the department’s Northern Division, and they occasionally rode together on shifts. Martinez has been with the department for a year and a half and is a Navy reservist who came to San Diego through his military service.
“He was born and raised to serve,” said Wahl while standing outside of Sharp Memorial Hospital, where Martinez is being treated for his injuries. “An EMT, his heart is into helping people.”
“We are very optimistic that he’s going to be OK, but he has a very long road to go,” Wahl said, describing his injuries as “numerous.”
His mother, who is from Texas, is with him, and police are working to provide regular updates to his father still in Texas and a younger brother away at school, the chief said.
Wahl did not give any further information about the crash — including anything about the fleeing driver in the other car — and declined to take questions.
“I ask for patience at this point,” Wahl said. “We have a lot of questions that we want to answer ourselves, but unfortunately, it’s going to take time to reconstruct everything that happened.”
The crash happened just after 11:30 p.m. on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard west of Interstate 805.
Wahl said officers spotted a vehicle traveling at “a high rate of speed” on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard and tried to pull it over. The driver kept going, and the officers briefly gave chase, but the high speeds led a supervisor to call off the pursuit, the chief said.
Two other officers — Machitar and Martinez — were driving together in the same car, responding to the incident, when the fleeing car slammed into the side of their patrol vehicle, he said.
Machitar, who was driving, died at the scene, as did the suspect. Martinez was taken to a hospital and was in the intensive care unit.
“I can’t put into words the feelings that come at a time like this,” Wahl told reporters earlier Tuesday morning, standing with Mayor Todd Gloria and others. “When we have police officers coming to work, to make a difference, to help those in need, and they put their lives on the line for people they don’t even know. Last night, we lost a good one.”
Wahl said two other vehicles were also involved in the crash. “It appears those drivers are OK, with no significant injuries,” he said.
Wahl said that “due to the enormity of this situation and all the emotion that’s behind it,” he’s asked the California Highway Patrol to conduct an independent investigation of the crash and do “a full reconstruction of exactly what happened.”
A CHP Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team will investigate the crash. Known as MAIT, it’s a specialized unit designed to investigate complex collisions.
The crash comes as the Police Department has been asked to consider revising its pursuit policy.
The city’s Commission on Police Practices in July recommended several changes after reviewing more than 1,000 San Diego police pursuits. The commission found that most pursuits began over minor violations and that 1 in 5 pursuits over the past five years involved some kind of collision.
One suggested change would have officers only engage in pursuits over incidents related to a violent crime.
The policy review was launched after a driver allegedly fleeing police in a pursuit crashed into a family’s car in Mountain View in December, killing two young boys.
Monday night’s crash prompted an 11-99 call over police radios, code for “officer down.” Several officers raced to the scene, and dispatchers asked them to grab their fire extinguisher when they arrived. As some first responders tended to the injured, police officers blocked and rerouted traffic and tried to preserve evidence. CHP officers quickly shut down the off-ramps from I-805 at Clairemont Mesa Boulevard, just a few blocks from the crash scene. They reopened several hours later.
Early Tuesday, a procession of police cars accompanied the body of the police officer as it was taken to the county Medical Examiner’s Office in Kearny Mesa, footage from Fox 5 showed.
In a message to police officers who are working despite the heartbreak, Gloria told them: “Your work is appreciated. Your city is grateful to you.”
He urged San Diegans to spread the same message as they are out and about over the coming days: “Make sure to express that appreciation directly,” the mayor told residents. “They need to hear that from us.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom said flags at the State Capitol and Capitol Annex Swing Space will be flown at half-staff in Machitar’s honor. “Jennifer and I are heartbroken by the tragic loss of Officer Machitar,” he said in a statement.
The San Diego Police Officers Association said a fund has been set up to assist the families of the two officers in the crash.
The fund is being handled by the Peace Officers Research Association of California, or PORAC, and it had raised more than $35,000 by Tuesday evening. A link to the donation page can be found at sdpoa.org. It can also be found directly on the PORAC website.
Machitar is the 35th officer killed in the line of duty with the San Diego Police Department, according to the police officers association.
The 34th is Dan Walters, who died in April 2020 from complications related to a gunshot wound he suffered in the line of duty in 2003. Before he was a police officer, Walters played for the Padres.
In July 2016, Officer Jonathan De Guzman, 43, was killed in Southcrest after a man opened fire on him and his partner.
The department has incurred other tragic losses as well, including a June 2021 crash that killed Detective Ryan Park, 32, and fellow Detective Jamie Huntley-Park, 33, a married couple who were off-duty when they were struck by a wrong-way driver.
Staff writer Caleb Lunetta contributed to this report.
