90-m.p.h. Chase to Irvine : Dispute Near Oceanside Sparks Freeway Shooting

Police were searching Wednesday for two young men suspected of firing two shots from a rifle into another car during a wild, hourlong chase that began near Oceanside and ended in Orange County.

No one was injured in the 7 p.m. Tuesday shooting, but one shot ricocheted around the heads of the driver, Stephen Broderson, 19, of Camarillo and his passenger, who ducked during the assault. But a door handle was blown off and a window shattered by the gunfire as Broderson attempted to elude his pursuers at the northbound junction of Interstates 5 and 405 in Irvine.

The 17-year-old West Covina driver of the pickup truck from which the shots were allegedly fired was arrested about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday near La Puente after Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies saw a vehicle that matched Broderson’s description of the suspects’ truck. The teen-ager was alone when arrested.

Teen-Age Suspects

Two other suspects in the truck during the shooting remain at large, Irvine Police Lt. Mike White said. One is 19 years old, the other 17 to 20; both are Filipino, White said.

The shooting was the latest in recent Southland freeway assaults that now total 35, the California Highway Patrol said. Four people have been killed and five injured.

There were two other shooting incidents on San Diego County reported this week. In East San Diego, a 16-year-old girl was shot in the foot early Monday morning after she and her cousin argued with a slow driver on Skyline Drive.

In La Mesa, two teen-agers driving on Interstate 8 near Fletcher Parkway reported that the passengers in a car following them fired a gun at them and flashed hazard lights, shouted and threw rocks.

Tuesday’s incident began when Broderson changed lanes in front of a silver pickup on Interstate 5 near Oceanside. Broderson said he and his girlfriend, Rachelle Sabo, 17, of Spring Valley, were on their way to pick up his mother at Los Angeles International Airport.

The driver of the pickup and its two passengers gave chase, swerving toward Broderson’s car, signaling him to pull over and brandishing a baseball bat, he said.

Broderson said he thought the pickup would be stopped at the San Onofre Border Patrol checkpoint “because they were not Caucasian,” but the post was unmanned.

Seeking Officer

Broderson said that was when he speeded up to 90 m.p.h. and began driving recklessly, hoping to catch a police officer’s attention.

“I was really scared,” he said. “So was my girlfriend.”

However, no police or CHP officers saw them.

When they reached where Interstate 405 branches off, he headed toward the I-405 side and then swung back onto I-5, attempting to elude the truck, he said.

The truck pulled up beside him, and a gunman--using what Broderson described as a .22-caliber rifle--fired two bullets into his left rear door.

Broderson said he was startled to see the rifle. “I just ducked.”

After the shooting, the two vehicles parted. The pickup continued along the freeway. Broderson drove to an off-ramp and called Irvine police to report the shooting and give a description of the truck and its occupants.

Irvine police said the truck’s driver, who was not identified because he is a juvenile, matched the description and was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. He was released to his parents. Police are continuing to look for the other two suspects in the La Puente and West Covina areas.

Broderson said Wednesday that he was “still freaking out” over the shooting. He had heard about the rash of freeway violence in Southern California but thought it was “no big deal.”

Irvine Police Sgt. Mike Ogden said there was an altercation between the two parties after Broderson changed lanes near Oceanside, with the occupants of the two vehicles yelling at each other along the freeway, “probably trying to get the best of each other’s egos.”

Broderson insisted there was no altercation and said he did not cut the pickup truck off.

Irvine Police Sgt. Scott Cade said he does not recommend that people drive recklessly to attract attention when attempting to elude a vehicle with an armed or aggressive occupant.

“I would recommend getting away from the suspect or offending vehicle as fast as you can,” Cade said. “Try an off-ramp. When you continue to drive alongside the car, faster or slower or all over the freeway, all you’re doing is creating a danger to yourself and others.”