SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Both northbound and southbound lanes of Interstate 5 near Carmel Valley were closed Monday following a miles-long pursuit, causing a disruption for drivers described by authorities as a “traffic nightmare.”
The pursuit began in Imperial Beach after a deputy with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department attempted a traffic stop on a vehicle, a Toyota Corolla, that had been driving recklessly, California Highway Patrol Sgt. Ray Scheidnes said.
It continued for a few streets in the South Bay until it reached I-5, where CHP was set to take over. The state law enforcement officers picked up the chase on the freeway near downtown, according to Scheidnes.
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CHP continued tailing the driver as it headed north. A spike strip was deployed on the Corolla when it reached the I-5 connector with Interstate 805, flattening its tires.
However, the car continued driving, Scheidnes said, prompting CHP to conduct a pit maneuver — a tactic where a patrol car intentionally strikes the side of a vehicle during a pursuit to cause it to spin our of control and stop.
This maneuver brought the Corolla to a rest just south of the I-5 connector with State Route 56 around noon. Lanes in both directions were then closed out of an abundance of caution as authorities tried to make contact with the driver.
The driver, who Scheidnes said was “definitely under the influence,” resisted getting out of the vehicle once it was stopped. CHP officers used “various techniques,” including gas, to safely approach the Corolla, confirm the driver was unarmed and take him into custody.
Once out of the vehicle, the driver was placed in an ambulance for transport to receive medical treatment. The nature of the injuries the driver needed attending to is unclear.
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Southbound lanes were reopened to traffic through the area around 1 p.m., more than an hour after the pursuit ended. The northbound lanes were reopened about 30 minutes later, according to Caltrans.
California Highway Patrol respond to the end of a pursuit on Interstate 5 near Carmel Valley on May 26, 2025. (FOX 5/KUSI)
The prolonged closure snarled traffic for miles in both directions, keeping drivers at a standstill from Solana Beach in the north to the I-5 and I-805 merge in the south.
“It’s a nightmare,” Scheidnes said. “This created a very big traffic nightmare that will be felt for the rest of the day and into the evening on all freeways, because all freeways seem to come to this freeway, the I-5.”
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