Police chase ends with RV crash in Santa Cruz River at I-19
by Ryn Gargulinski on Dec. 06, 2008, under Local, Special
A recreational vehicle crashed into the Santa Cruz River south of San Xavier Road on Friday. The RV crashed after hitting spikes laid on the road by the Department of Public Safety. The man driving fled north on I-19 from the Santa Cruz.
A Rio Rico man started his Friday morning by pulling a gun on paramedics, then crashing his motor home when he tried to flee on Interstate 19, authorities said.
The incident began around 8 a.m. when the man’s wife called the Rio Rico Fire Department to check on the welfare of her husband at their home, Santa Cruz County Sheriff Antonio Estrada said.
When emergency medical technicians arrived, the man came out of the house pointing a gun at them, Estrada said.
The man then jumped into his recreational vehicle and fled the property, hitting a couple of his own vehicles on his way, Estrada said.
Deputies caught up with the man as he was heading toward Interstate 19, Estrada said, and tried to stop him.
Santa Cruz County deputies stopped the pursuit about 15 miles north of Nogales, he said. They notified the Arizona Department of Public Safety and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department that the RV was heading north on the interstate.
DPS officers attempted to stop the RV around milepost 54, but the RV kept on, weaving between lanes, said DPS Officer Carmen Figueroa.
Just south of the San Xavier exit, officers laid tire spikes in the northbound lanes, Figueroa said.
The man lost control of the RV and veered off the roadway into the Santa Cruz River as he swerved to avoid them.
She said the man was taken to a hospital with minor injuries.
Estrada said he expects the man to be taken into custody in Santa Cruz County once he is released from the hospital.
No further information, including the man’s name, was available Friday afternoon.
Traffic backed up for about two miles after the RV crash and left motorists on I-19 stopped in their tracks for about two hours.
The wreckage of an RV lies in the Santa Cruz riverbed north of San Xavier Road. The driver had been fleeing Santa Cruz County Sheriff and Department of Public Safety officers. The RV crashed soon after driving over spikes laid in the road by DPS.
