Man ditches car after freeway chase

San Diego police used a spike strip to stop a car theft suspect who led police on a chase from Miramar to La Jolla this morning, but the man disappeared into a 30-inch drain that runs under the road.

The chase began on Miramar Road near Carroll Canyon Road about 2:20 a.m., when police tried to stop the vehicle for an unspecified violation, San Diego police said.

Officers in several cars chased the vehicle onto northbound Interstate 805, then southbound Interstate 5 until the car was halted using a spike strip near state Route 52, police said.

The driver bailed of the car and disappeared into a 30-inch wide drain running under the freeway, police said, adding that the drain branches into several outlets.