Police chase ends in two-hours standoff on I-5 in Carlsbad

Carlsbad police say a woman carjacked a rideshare driver and led officers on a pursuit that ended in a standoff on Interstate 5 Thursday afternoon, prompting the closure of northbound freeway lanes for two hours.

Police said they were notified around noon that a woman vandalized a car window on Paseo Del Norte near Palomar Airport Road and then took off in a rideshare car.

Officers spotted the vehicle in the area and stopped it. When officers approached the car, the woman — a passenger — pulled out a knife and made threats against herself and others, police said.

The driver was rescued, police said. The woman jumped in the driver’s seat and took off.

Police gave chase until spike strips stopped the car on northbound I-5 near Poinsettia Lane. But the woman refused to exit and comply with officers’ instructions to surrender, police said.

The department’s SWAT team and crisis negotiators were summoned. After about an hour and a half of negotiations, the woman surrendered, police said.

Police recovered a knife and arrested the woman. The 39-year-old suspect was expected to be booked into jail and suspicion of various charges, including vandalism, carjacking and resisting arrest. She was had an arrest warrant for “threats” made in San Diego, police said. Further details about that case were not immediately available.

The southbound lanes of I-5 were closed until 1:15 p.m.

The northbound lanes remained closed until about 2:30 p.m. During the freeway closure, northbound vehicles were diverted off the freeway at La Costa Avenue, with traffic backed up to Santa Fe Drive in Encinitas.