San Diego’s pursuit policy was already under scrutiny when a 16-year-old driver fleeing from police slammed into a patrol vehicle this week, killing one officer and seriously injuring a second.
With the fiery crash, which also killed the teen driver, that spotlight on when and how police handle pursuits is likely only going to intensify.
The Aug. 26 collision that killed both Officer Austin Machitar and teen driver Edgar Giovanny Oviedo, and injured Officer Zach Martinez, came weeks after a police oversight group asked the Police Department to begin to consider revising its pursuit policy.
In July, the group, an ad hoc committee under the city’s Commission on Police Practices, offered a list of suggested changes, including only chasing vehicles for incidents arising from a violent felony. As it stands, San Diego police can chase people after suspected infractions or misdemeanors.
The investigation into Monday’s crash is still in its early stages — in the hands of a specialty accident reconstruction unit at the California Highway Patrol — and it remains to be seen how the department’s current pursuit policy played out or how it may have factored in the ensuing crash.
The city’s Commission on Police Practices declined to discuss the recent tragedy this week or where the is headed next in its examination of the department’s pursuit policy, other than to issue a statement noting it was saddened to learn of the death of Machitar and injuries to Martinez in the line of duty. The group also commended Police Chief Scott Wahl “for requesting an independent California Highway Patrol investigation into this tragic accident” and said it looks forward “to seeing what can be learned from the outcome.”
On Friday, a Police Department spokesperson said the agency is “engaging with the ad hoc committee and working to review the recommendations of the Commission on Police Practices.”
“We are ensuring due diligence so that any changes that are implemented do not adversely affect public and officer safety,” police spokesperson Ashley Nicholes said. “Any decisions will not be made lightly or in haste but rather after considering all of the facts and the best interests of all involved.”
The crash happened just after 11:30 p.m. on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard west of Interstate 805.
Wahl said police spotted a vehicle traveling at “a high rate of speed” on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard and tried to pull it over. The driver kept going. Police briefly gave chase, but the high speeds led a supervisor to call it off, Wahl 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.
The chase was over, but it’s unclear how big a factor it could have been in the crash. No further details have been released as the investigation continues.
Department pursuit procedures state that to start a chase, officers must have probable cause to believe someone in the vehicle committed an infraction or misdemeanor in front of them, or to believe a felony was or is being committed.
Officers are responsible for ending a chase “when the benefits of immediate apprehension are outweighed by the hazards of continuing the pursuit,” the procedures read.
San Diego’s Commission on Police Practices started looking into the pursuit policy after a deadly crash in December when a driver accused of fleeing pursuing officers slammed into the back of a car on a Mountain View freeway off-ramp. Two young boys in the backseat died.
After a preliminary hearing in early August, a San Diego Superior Court judge ordered the driver to stand trial on charges of murder. According to testimony at that hearing, the officer initially took notice of the car because a headlight was out.
The city commission created the “Pursuit Policy Committee” a few months after the Mountain View crash. The committee compared San Diego’s procedures to 65 recommendations in a 2023 report from prominent law enforcement, traffic safety and research groups at the national level. It also looked at 24 policing agencies — seven in large cities from Baltimore to Seattle, and 17 in California, including Chula Vista and the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office.
As part of their work, the commission reviewed more than 1,000 San Diego police pursuits over the last five years. It found that about 60 percent of the chases started over infractions, including minor traffic offenses.
The review found that one in five chases involved some kind of collision, and 75 percent of those crashes left at least one person injured.
The commission also recommended the department create a board to review pursuits and publish a quarterly report with data on chases.
The recommended changes drew pushback at the time from the San Diego Police Officers Association, which said limiting pursuits to certain suspects would prevent officers from pursuing suspects connected to other serious crimes such as human trafficking or those in violation of domestic violence restraining orders.
“The recommendations presented by the P are misguided and pose significant risks to our community,” the association said in a statement.
There has been talk of changing policies before, particularly after a 1999 crash in which a police officer chasing two home-invasion suspects broadsided a 32-year-old woman driving in Mira Mesa. The woman died. The officer was later suspended for three days. The suspects were convicted of murder in the woman’s death. It is unclear if any changes were made.
City News Service contributed to this report.
