Crime & Safety

Police Chase Suspect Pleads Not Guilty

Trial motions begin for the suspect in a police chase that started in Santee and ended in Kearny Mesa.

A suspect in a series of ATM and safe burglaries, who led officers on a nearly at gunpoint in Kearny Mesa, pleaded not guilty today to evading with reckless driving and other charges.

Parolee Scott Michael Conder, 39, was ordered held without bail.

The chase began in the area of Cuyamaca Street in Santee shortly before 11 a.m last Friday., sheriff's Lt. Jim Duffy said. The driver sped off from members of a fugitive task force, fleeing to the west on Interstate 8 into San Diego as police from that city and California Highway Patrol personnel joined in the pursuit, according to Duffy.

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Conder proceeded to criss-cross erratically through Linda Vista and Serra Mesa, running stoplights near Juvenile Hall, at times driving the wrong way in traffic lanes and cutting through a parking lot at Rady Children's Hospital, the lieutenant said.

About 12:45 p.m., the fleeing driver finally pulled over in the area of Clairemont Mesa and Murphy Canyon roads, Duffy said. The suspect put his hands out the driver's side window, got out of the vehicle with his hands over his head and lay down on the roadway, where CHP personnel handcuffed him.

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The passenger -- who is not believed to be involved in the string of burglaries, was also taken into custody. Officers then sent a service dog through the suspect's car to search for contraband.

A readiness conference was set for Nov. 3 and a preliminary hearing for Nov. 7.

-City News Service


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