San Marcos CA— On October 4, 2020, at approximately 10:30 a.m., deputies from the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, San Marcos Station, responded to a report of a beige Mercedes-Benz E320 traveling at an unsafe speed northbound on Bennett Avenue when the vehicle ran off the roadway colliding in a concrete wall and continuing into the west wall of a residence located at 600 Bennett Avenue. The 26-year-old male adult driver attempted to flee the scene of the collision. Local residence and passersby called 9-1-1 and detained the male driver pending the arrival of emergency personnel and deputies.
While units were in route to the solo vehicle collision, Sheriff’s dispatch broadcast a call of a black male suspect, wearing camouflage clothing, who had utilized a hatchet to smash the window of a vehicle in the nearby Stater Brothers Grocery Store parking lot located 1330 East Mission Road. The male suspect fled the scene in a vehicle matching the description of the Mercedes-Benz. The suspect driver was traveling northbound on Bennett Road when witnesses observed the Mercedes-Benz run a stop sign at the 4-way stop intersection of Knob Hill Road. The Mercedes-Benz was involved in a non-injury hit and run collision with the 61-year-old female adult driver of a gray Audi A-3.
San Marcos Fire and Paramedics later responded to the collision scene where the suspect was treated and release for minor injuries sustained in the collision. San Marcos Fire also determined the structural integrity and habitability of the damaged residence prior to the Mercedes-Benz being towed from the collision scene.
Based on the preliminary investigation and eyewitness statements, it was determined that the suspect was under the influence of a combination of prescription medication and was heavily intoxicated at the time of the collision. The suspect was later arrested for the misdemeanor charges of Driving Under the Influence, vandalism and leaving the scene of a collision.
Alcohol and/or drugs were a factor in the collision. The San Diego Sheriff’s, San Marcos Station Patrol and Traffic Divisions are handling the investigations.