A suspected drunk thief in a stolen Tesla turned a sunny San Diego boardwalk into a war zone Monday, barreling through crowds at 50-plus mph, flattening a 25-year-old woman and sending beachgoers diving into the sand for their lives.
The blue Tesla had been swiped from the Westfield UTC mall in University City. The owner tracked it on the Tesla app and called cops around 12:20 p.m. Officers spotted the car southbound on Mission Boulevard minutes later. The driver refused to stop. A chase was on — until supervisors called it off over public-safety fears.
Too late.
The Tesla smashed an SDG&E transformer, then veered onto the Pacific Beach boardwalk from Pacific Beach Drive and ripped north through a packed pedestrian strip near Reed and Thomas avenues. Witnesses said people flung themselves over the seawall into the sand as the electric sedan tore past.
“I was in the middle of the path and I launched myself off my bike,” said Alex Srour of Santee, who was on his after-work ride. Another witness, Miguel Valle, said he heard the commotion first: “It was a lot of sand flying… then a navy blue Tesla flying by me at least 50 mph.”
The car struck the 25-year-old woman. Lifeguards reached her first. She was rushed to a hospital with serious injuries that authorities later described as non-life-threatening. Fire-rescue officials called it a miracle no one else was mowed down on one of the busiest stretches of San Diego coastline.
The driver dumped the Tesla in front of Baja Beach Cafe, jumped out and ran. Srour and other pedestrians took off after him. Srour recorded the foot chase on his Meta sunglasses. They caught the man in a nearby lot, pinned him and held him until police arrived. Video captured bystanders screaming at the suspect to get on the ground as he pleaded.
San Diego police said the driver is suspected of being under the influence and is under investigation for felony hit-and-run. His name has not been released.
One official summed it up: “This is such a highly walked area; it is a miracle that no one else was injured on that boardwalk.”
A note on comments: Our advertisers enforce a strict zero-tolerance policy on racism, hate speech, and threats of violence. Any comment that crosses that line will be removed and the account permanently banned — no warnings. Debate hard, but keep it civil.
A note on comments: Our advertisers enforce a strict zero-tolerance policy on racism, hate speech, and threats of violence. Any comment that crosses that line will be removed and the account permanently banned — no warnings. Debate hard, but keep it civil.