San Francisco duo arrested after crashing stolen automotive in Pacifica

PACIFICA – Two San Francisco men were arrested Monday morning in Pacifica after they drove a stolen car the wrong way on Highway 1 and crashed, police said.

Around 2:25 am, an officer spotted the car driving the wrong way on the Manor Drive off-ramp from Highway 1, the Pacifica Police Department said in a news release.

The officer tried to stop the car, but it continued southbound in northbound lanes, police said.

“Seeing how the vehicle was traveling in the wrong direction and into oncoming traffic, the officer did not pursue the car,” police said.

A short time later, another officer spotted the car exiting the highway at Oceana Boulevard. The officer tried to stop the car, which had been reported stolen in Daly City, but the driver reversed down the off-ramp, police said. The car then left the roadway, rolled onto its side and came to a rest partially blocking one lane of the highway.

Two men got out of the car and ran toward Ingrid B. Lacy Middle School, police said. One was found hiding in some heavy brush at the school and the other was found a few blocks away, at the corner of Palmetto and Carmel avenues, in an open stairwell.

Neither man was injured in the crash, police said.

One of the men was booked into San Mateo County jail on suspicion of possession of a stolen vehicle, taking a vehicle without the owner’s consent, evading a police officer and resisting arrest, as well as a pair of bench warrants. The other was arrested on suspicon of resisting arrest and giving false identification to a police officer.

The California Highway Patrol recovered the stolen car and cleared the affected lane, police said. The incident did not result in any closures of the highway.

Anyone with information related to the case can contact the police department at 650-738-7314.