A suspected reckless driver led San Diego police on a winding, unpredictable chase Sunday morning that eventually reached the sand at Pacific Beach, where startled beachgoers watched officers close in and arrest him.
The incident began shortly before 7:30 a.m., when the San Diego Police Department received several calls about a man driving dangerously through the Pacific Beach area, police told News Outlet.
Callers reported that the driver of a tan or gold Nissan Frontier was spinning donuts in parking lots, coming dangerously close to other vehicles and possibly hitting curbs and a retaining wall, authorities said.
Officers reached the neighborhood within minutes and saw the pickup heading west toward the shoreline. When an officer tried to pull it over, police said the driver refused to stop and took off, triggering a pursuit.
Griffin Charles Foy raises his hands beside a Nissan Frontier as San Diego police move in following a pursuit that ended on the beach. (Tracie Schmidt / @tracieschmidtsandiego)
As the chase continued, officers called it off, citing what police described as the driver’s “increasing wanton disregard to public safety.”
San Diego police gather near Griffin Charles Foy after authorities said he led officers on multiple pursuits before driving onto Pacific Beach. (Tracie Schmidt / @tracieschmidtsandiego)
Police later found the truck again, but the driver allegedly refused to yield for a second time, prompting another pursuit that officers also ended for safety reasons.
By then, police said the Nissan was wanted in connection with felony evading, and officers saturated the area in an effort to locate it.
Officers eventually spotted the truck again driving slowly but held off on another attempted stop until the department’s ABLE, or Airborne Law Enforcement, helicopter was overhead and able to track it.
The helicopter followed the Nissan as it drove onto the beach and headed toward the water, police said.
San Diego police move in to arrest a suspect after a wild pursuit ended on the sand in Pacific Beach. (Tracie Schmidt / @tracieschmidtsandiego)
Video from the scene shows stunned beachgoers watching as officers converge on the pickup on the sand. The driver, identified by police as 25-year-old Griffin Charles Foy, is seen outside the truck with his hands raised as officers move in to detain him.
A police K-9 was also at the scene but was not deployed during Foy’s arrest, authorities said.
Police said officers conducted a high-risk vehicle stop because of the nature of the alleged violations and Foy’s “disregard to public safety.”
Foy was taken into custody without further incident.
He was booked into San Diego Central Jail on charges of felony evading a peace officer with wanton disregard for safety, obstructing or resisting a peace officer and driving under the influence of drugs, according to police.
Despite the chaotic pursuit, police said no one was injured.
