A suspected immigrant smuggler fleeing from the U.S. Border Patrol agents crashed the SUV she was driving on state Route 125 in the Otay Ranch area Thursday, leaving one of her passengers dead and the other three injured, authorities said.
The pursuit began shortly before 7 a.m. after personnel with the federal agency saw a group of people suspected of illegally entering the United States get into a silver 2002 Acura MDX off Alta Road in Otay Mesa, U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Theron Francisco said.
When the agents tried to pull her over, the driver of the SUV — later identified as 29-year-old Kyleigh Marsay Polite of Sacramento — allegedly refused to yield, continuing to the north onto SR-125.
Near Olympic Parkway in Chula Vista, the Acura skidded out of control, overturned and rolled side over side several times, according to the California Highway Patrol.
A 54-year-old man riding in the vehicle was injured in the wreck and died at the scene, the CHP reported. The Sacramento resident's name was withheld pending family notification.
The other passengers — two men and a woman from Mexico, ages 18, 21 and 25, respectively — were taken to Scripps Mercy Hospital along with Polite for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.
Polite was arrested on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter and reckless driving causing injury or death.
The crash left the entire freeway closed in the area for about an hour. Hours after the crash. one lane in each direction remained blocked off, according to the CHP.
All lanes have reopened as of Tuesday morning.
