Driver Held After Fleeing Border Patrol

A truck loaded with a dozen illegal immigrants ran through the border checkpoint here early Sunday and led authorities on a 99-mile chase to the San Fernando Valley, Border Patrol officials said.

The pursuit began about 1 a.m. when the driver of a 1973 Chevrolet Blazer refused to stop at the checkpoint, Border Patrol spokesman Ted Swofford said.

“The driver failed to yield for long, long time,” he said.

Border Patrol agents followed the truck north on the Santa Ana Freeway through Orange County, pursuing it into Los Angeles to the northbound Foothill Freeway. The chase ended at the Osborne Street off-ramp near Pacoima, where the driver of the truck stopped the vehicle and fled with two other occupants, Swofford said.

Border Patrol agents captured the driver and one of the two men who fled. Nine other people were found in the vehicle and were detained, he said.

The 24-year-old driver, whose name was not released, was being held at San Diego’s Metropolitan Correction Center on suspicion of transporting undocumented aliens, Swofford said.

Two of the truck’s occupants were held to be used as witnesses against the driver, and the other seven found in the vehicle were returned to the Mexican border, he said.

The chase lasted for an hour and 20 minutes.