Video: Gunman Leads San Diego Police on Wild Chase, Crashing into House

By Caleb Lunetta

Source The San Diego Union-Tribune

Body-worn camera footage released Wednesday shows San Diego SWAT officers fatally shoot an armed man who allegedly pulled a gun on a bicyclist, led police on a freeway pursuit and then crashed into a Golden Hill home last month.

Enrique Cortez Jr., 37, had reportedly threatened the bicyclist in San Ysidro before fleeing from officers while firing his gun into the air around 3:30 p.m. on April 14. The pickup he was driving ultimately crashed a few minutes later into the pergola of a home on 26th Street in Golden Hill.

Acting Sgt. Bryan Shields and Sgt. Richard Curtis fired on Cortez as he revved the crashed pickup’s engine with a San Diego police car parked directly behind him, investigators said. Shields has been with the department for nine years, and Curtis has been employed for 13 years. They both work out of the Southeastern division.

The county Sheriff’s Office is handling the investigation under a reciprocal agreement with San Diego police, so neither department investigates its own officers or deputies.

The edited video that includes the body-worn camera footage begins with text that says the incident began around 3:20 p.m. on Blanche Street near Sanger Place in San Ysidro.

A caller reports that a man, later identified as Cortez, has a rifle and is acting erratically. The caller then says Cortez has changed out the rifle for a handgun, is arguing with a bicyclist and has fired a shot from the handgun into the ground.

The video cuts to body-worn camera footage that shows officers arrive a few houses down from where the caller says the shooting occurred. The two officers begin speaking with the victim, who indicates that the man is down the street, still pointing the gun at him.

“San Diego police, drop the gun!” one of the officers yells as they take cover behind a dumpster with their weapons drawn.

The man responds by entering his vehicle around 3:35 p.m. and driving east on Blanche away from the officers, surveillance video shows.

The suspect then fires four shots from inside his vehicle into the air while driving onto Cyprus Street, text in the video reads. San Diego police request SWAT assistance.

A nearby officer in a police vehicle spots the fleeing pickup and begins pursuing Cortez as he drives onto the Interstate 5 on-ramp heading north.

ABLE helicopter footage overhead shows Cortez swerving across lanes of traffic, narrowly avoiding cars with the rear gate of his pickup open. The video shows Cortez sticking his hand out of the driver’s window, and at times, even hanging his entire upper torso out the window, as he flees.

At one point, Cortez slows his pickup down on the freeway and pulls it to a stop perpendicular to lanes of traffic. But seconds later, he takes off again and drives up the nearby exit for B Street.

Cortez then reaches 26th Street, a cul-de-sac, in Golden Hill. A K9 officer rams his police vehicle into the side of the pickup to try and stop Cortez from continuing, but the man is able to speed off before crashing into the pergola of a home on the residential street, the video shows.

The crash causes the K9 officer’s airbags to deploy. The officer was later taken to a hospital with minor injuries, and his dog was uninjured.

Another police vehicle drives up quickly behind the pickup to prevent it from reversing, the video shows. Cortez continues to rev his engine and spin his pickup’s tires, causing smoke to fill the air.

The officers are heard yelling orders at Cortez, but the man seemingly refuses to comply. Curtis then runs up on foot and quickly fires with a long rifle as the car begins to rev its engines again, breaking windows on the pickup. The man continues to spin the tires, Curtis moves to the side of the pickup and fires again.

The edited video cuts to Shields’ viewpoint from the other side of the crashed pickup. As Shields runs up to stand to the side of the police vehicle parked behind the pickup, officers are heard yelling commands to “not move” and for him to stick his hands out of the pickup. Cortez sticks at least one hand out of the pickup, but does not exit. The pickup continues to smoke, and the tires continue to screech. Shields then fires multiple times as the pickup revs one more time, with smoke billowing out of the vehicle.

Officers then approach and provide Cortez with medical aid before paramedics arrive. He died at the scene.

The video ends by showing a rifle and a handgun that were reportedly found inside the pickup Cortez was driving.

After the Sheriff’s Office completes its investigation, the District Attorney’s Office will review it, as it does all shootings involving law enforcement, to determine whether the officers bear any criminal liability.

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