Bail jumper shoots private investigator and escapes police manhunt
NATIONAL CITY CA April 13 2021— Police launched a manhunt Monday for a parolee they say has twice opened fire while evading capture — first shooting at two private investigators in Chula Vista in mid-March, then at two National City police officers during a traffic stop early Monday.
Police identified the suspect as 36-year-old Christopher Marquez, who they said is considered armed and dangerous. Marquez was identified last month as the man suspected of shooting at two private investigators, injuring one of them, when they tried to arrest him for jumping bail.
In Monday’s shooting, the officers were not hit by the gunfire.
The incident began shortly after 2:30 a.m., when officers saw a stolen Honda Civic in the drive-thru of a Jack in the Box on Roosevelt Avenue near 7th Street, police said. It was unclear what drew the officers’ attention to the car in the first place. They learned it had been stolen by running a license plate query against a database.
National City police Lt. David Bavencoff said the car was taken in San Diego in March, but he said he did not have any further information about the theft.
Officers locked down the restaurant, removed all motorists in the parking lot and initiated a high-risk vehicle stop on the car, National City police Capt. Alex Hernandez said in a statement.
During the stop, the driver and a passenger in the car were cooperating with officers, but a passenger in the back seat jumped out and ran, Hernandez said.
Two officers chased the man, later identified as Marquez, as he ran onto the on-ramp from East 7th Street to northbound Interstate 5. The man turned toward the officers and fired multiple shots, Hernandez said.
Both officers returned fire, and the man continued to run west across the freeway, Hernandez said. It was unclear whether the man was struck by the gunfire, though Bavencoff said there was no indication that the man was hit.
The names of the officers who fired their guns were not released.
Officers from neighboring jurisdictions responded and launched a massive manhunt.
At one point, the search focused on an area near the edge of Naval Base San Diego near West 8th Street and Harbor Drive. Video shot by OnScene showed a caravan of police cars going onto the base, some carrying officers in riot gear. A police helicopter also aided in the search.
Military dogs tracked the man to an area near the base’s Navy Exchange warehouse, said base spokeswoman Krishna Jackson. Officers were trying to determine if the man was still on the base or if he ran to a nearby MTS transit center, she said.
“National City (police) are still trying to figure out where he might have left, if he took the trolley or whatever,” Jackson said in the late morning. “We are still working with them, just to make sure he is not on the base in that area.”
The search near the edge of the base turned up empty.
At the time of the shooting, National City police officers did not know the identity of the person who had run from the car. Bavencoff said investigators later identified the suspect as Marquez but declined to say how.
The lieutenant said National City police were working with the Chula Vista Police Department and “other agencies” in the county to find Marquez.
“We will make every attempt to try to locate him,” Bavencoff said Monday afternoon.
Marquez was already on the run after the March 15 shooting in Chula Vista. In that incident, a man police identified as Marquez opened fire on two private investigators who tried to take him into custody. One of the investigators, a 45-year-old man, suffered two gunshot wounds and was expected to survive.
According to a GoFundMe set up to raise funds to cover his medical expenses, the victim works for Fugitive Warrants and is a former police officer.
The shooting prompted a response by SWAT officers, who surrounded a home where they thought Marquez was holed up. When they entered the home hours later, Marquez was not there.
Private investigator Jesse Nunez said Marquez was being sought on a felony warrant for failing to yield to a police officer in a 2019 case and that Marquez had failed to appear in court for a hearing.
National City police said Marquez has felony warrants for vehicle theft, hit and run, evading arrest and obstructing police.
Anyone with information about the incident was asked to call National City police at (619) 336-4411.
San Diego Tribune
