SAN DIEGO – A suspected car thief eluded police early Wednesday morning by diving into a drainage pipe after leading officers on a 12-minute freeway chase from Miramar to La Jolla.

Officers tried to pull over the driver over about 2:20 a.m. on Miramar Road near Carroll Road after seeing him run a red light, San Diego police Sgt. Kerry Tom said.

But instead of stopping, the driver sped off and headed west on Miramar, then north on Interstate 805 and then, eventually, south on Interstate 5, Tom said.

The vehicle sped over a spike strip that officers laid out near La Jolla Village Drive but continued traveling at 70 mph as its tires began to disintegrate.

After about a mile and a half, just south of Gilman Drive, the car was still going about 60 mph, but one front tire was gone, the rest were shredded and sparks were coming from the rims, Tom said.

The man pulled over and ditched the vehicle, which was quickly engulfed in flames, near state Route 52 and ran up to the top of a 200-foot embankment.

He glanced down, then looked back at the officers behind him and “without hesitation” jumped headfirst into a drainage pipe – estimated at about 30 inches wide and at a 45-degree angle – and “disappeared into the darkness,” Tom said.

“It was a long, long, way down,” he said.

The pipe goes under the freeway and eventually lets out near the ocean, but it also branches off in several directions, with the homeless living in some sections, the sergeant said. It was dry at the time.

Officers were stationed at several exit points but the man wasn't seen emerging, and the search was called off.

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