Crime & Safety

Police: Suspected Prowler Arrested in La Mesa

Police arrest a suspected prowler following a brief pursuit early Saturday morning.

A man suspected of prowling around a La Mesa residence was arrested early Saturday after a brief pursuit in which he allegedly accelerated his vehicle toward officers, then struck a police car, according to a police sergeant.

The events that led to the arrest of Paul Day of La Mesa on suspicion of attempted burglary, assault on a peace officer with a deadly weapon, drunken driving and resisting a peace officer with violence began about 2:15 a.m., when police were called to the 6900 block of Wisconsin Avenue on a report of a possible prowler, La Mesa police Sgt. Katy Lynch said.

Arriving officers spotted a suspect, later identified by police as Day, in a residence's fenced back yard, Lynch said.

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According to Lynch, the suspect then tried to escape by jumping over fences to the northwest, then got into his vehicle and sped down Pennsylvania Avenue as additional officers and a helicopter arrived.

The suspect eventually reached Pennsylvania Avenue's dead end, at which point he put his vehicle in reverse and accelerated into a police vehicle, then drove forward into a driveway, according to Lynch.

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Officers tried to approach Day's vehicle, but he put it in reverse again and accelerated toward them, Lynch said. Both jumped out of the way, and the vehicle crashed into a brick planter bed, the sergeant said.

Day allegedly accelerated once more and crashed through a gated fence, Lynch said. The vehicle came to a stop at the back of a residence, but Day ran again, she said.

Officers caught up to him in the foliage behind the houses and he was arrested, Lynch said.

Lynch said the investigation was ongoing and asked anyone with information to call La Mesa police at (619) 667-1400, or to contact Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477 or via email at sdcrimestoppers.com.

City News Service


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