Man arrested after hitting Border Patrol vehicle, swimming naked into ocean

A man was arrested Sept. 3 after allegedly fleeing deputies, crashing into an unoccupied Border Patrol vehicle and jumping naked into the ocean in Del Mar, where he remained for about two hours before being taken into custody.

The events began around 1:35 a.m. when deputies attempted to pull over a southbound vehicle with its lights off on North Coast Highway 101 near El Portal Street in Encinitas, Sheriff’s Sgt. Jeffrey Houser said.

The driver sped off and deputies pursued the vehicle for roughly a minute, but the chase was called off near South Coast Highway 101 and E Street ``due to unsafe conditions,’’ Houser said.

A short time later, deputies found that the vehicle had collided with an unoccupied Border Patrol vehicle at the intersection of Coast Boulevard and 15th Street in Del Mar, the sergeant said. Border Patrol agents saw the man flee on foot toward the beach and deputies later found him near Torrey Pines State Beach.

10News reported the man was naked and jumped over the bluff’s edge into the ocean.

He then swam about 200 yards into the water to escape deputies and refused commands to come back to land, Houser said.

``After about two hours, the suspect was brought aboard a law enforcement boat and transported to shore,’’ Houser said.

The suspect’s name and age were not immediately available.