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Motor Home With 2 Dogs Leads Chase From San Diego To San Clemente

SAN CLEMENTE (CBSLA) – The driver of a motor home led law enforcement officers on a chase that spanned more than 50 miles early Thursday morning from San Diego to San Clemente, where he surrendered after a spike strip flattened two tires, resulting in a temporary closure of the 5 Freeway.

The motorist, a man in his early 60s, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs, California Highway Patrol Officer Monica Posada said. His name was not immediately released. A woman and two dogs who were also in the motor home were detained, CHP told KFMB-TV.

San Diego police initially made contact with the occupants of the motor home at about 2:20 a.m. for being parked illegally and having expired registration. The motor home was sitting in a park after hours in the neighborhood of Pacific Beach.

Officers told the occupants they had to leave or they were going to be towed. A police officer told dispatchers she was holding the driver's licenses of both the man and the woman when they jumped back into the motor home and sped away.

She reported the driver was a man licensed out of Arkansas and the woman was licensed in California.

The pursuit began at 3:40 a.m. and wound its way up northbound I-5 into Orange County. CHP officers took over, and the motor home stopped at around 5 a.m. in San Clemente after officers deployed a spike strip that flattened its two front tires, Posada said. Officers with guns drawn then surrounded the motor home and closed the freeway.

The freeway was closed in both directions at Avenida Magdalena for about 30 minutes starting just before 5 a.m. as morning rush-hour began to build along the busy corridor between Orange County and San Diego County, the CHP said. All southbound lanes reopened about 5:20 a.m., while three northbound lanes reopened about 10 minutes later.

(©2017 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

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