Police briefs

A Huntington Beach man died of unknown causes early Tuesday morning

after California Highway Patrol officers used pepper spray to subdue him

after he ran across the San Diego Freeway.

Raymond Martinez, 35, was pronounced dead at 12:55 a.m. Tuesday at San

Clemente Hospital and Medical Center in Orange County.

The California Highway Patrol received a call at 11:16 p.m. Monday of

a pickup truck traveling the wrong way along the southbound lanes of the

freeway three-quarters of a mile south of Basilone Road in San Clemente.

Upon arrival, officers found the vehicle on the shoulder of the

southbound lanes.

Officers then noticed a man, later identified by the Orange County

Coroner’s office as Martinez, yelling as he walked on the shoulder of the

northbound lane.

Martinez then ran across the southbound lanes, jumped over the

divider, and continued running along the northbound lanes, where he was

almost struck by a vehicle.

“Officers told the man not to go into traffic lanes as he started to

cross the northbound lanes and then they ran to him to prevent him from

going into the traffic,” said Sgt. Don Crist of the San Diego Sheriff’s

Department.

Officers caught up with Martinez and a struggle ensued as the officers

attempted to subdue him.

Martinez tried to grab an officer’s gun during the struggle.

“As they were struggling the officers asked for help and [an officer]

did pepper spray [Martinez] sometime during the struggle,” Crist said.

Officers requested assistance from the United States Border Patrol

Checkpoint in San Onofre, Military Police from the United States Marine

Corps base at Camp Pendleton and deputies from the Encinitas Sherrif’s

Station.

An ambulance was respected because the suspect had gone “into medical

distress” according to a San Diego sheriff’s press release.

Crist said the cause of Martinez’s death hasn’t been determined yet.