San Diego police arrested a 25-year-old man Sunday morning after a pickup truck involved in two separate pursuits was tracked onto the sand at Pacific Beach, where officers took the driver into custody as beachgoers looked on.
The San Diego Police Department said it began receiving multiple calls shortly before 7:30 a.m. reporting reckless driving in the Pacific Beach neighborhood. Witnesses said a driver in a tan or gold Nissan Frontier had been doing donuts in parking lots, nearly striking other vehicles and possibly hitting curbs and a retaining wall.
Officers arriving on scene spotted the truck heading west toward the ocean and attempted a traffic stop. Police said the driver fled, prompting a pursuit that officers ended because of what they called the driver’s “increasing wanton disregard to public safety.”
Police located the Nissan a second time, but said the driver again failed to yield, triggering a second pursuit that was also called off. By then, the vehicle was wanted in connection with a felony evading charge, and officers stepped up patrols in the area while continuing to search for it.
When the truck was spotted again driving slowly, officers held off on another stop and instead waited for the department’s ABLE helicopter unit to get into position to track the vehicle from the air. Police said the helicopter followed the Nissan as it drove onto Pacific Beach and toward the water.
Video from the scene showed beachgoers watching as officers converged on the truck, which had come to a stop on the sand. The driver, identified by police as Griffin Charles Foy, got out and raised his hands as officers approached. A police K-9 was present but was not deployed.
Police described the arrest as a high-risk vehicle stop, citing the alleged traffic violations and Foy’s disregard for public safety. He was taken into custody without further incident and 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.
Authorities said no one was injured during either pursuit or the arrest itself, despite the incident’s unusual end on one of the city’s busiest public beaches. Police did not report any additional injuries or property damage. The case against Foy will proceed through the courts.
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