Encinitas CA— Southbound I-5 was closed at Birmingham for several hours, with traffic being diverted at Manchester, after a deadly head-on collision kills three people.
The incident began Sunday morning at 3:09am when a 2006 Gray, C-Class, Mercedes, driven by a 29-year-old male from Encinitas, described as a “port runner”, was southbound on I-5 near the San Ysidro Point of entry.
At some point he decided that he did not want to be in Mexico, made a u-turn and started to drive northbound in the southbound lanes of I-5 at a high rate of speed.
US Customs and Border Protection attempted to get into position to overtake the vehicle but the speeds were to high.
The driver of the Mercedes, traveling at a high rate of speed, made it to the La Jolla Parkway by 3:19am before crashing head-on with a southbound Chrysler, near Lomas Santa Fe at 3:24am. The driver of the Mercedes was killed instantly. The two unidentified people in the Chrysler were pronounced dead at the scene.
At this time, it is unknown if alcohol or drugs played a factor in this collision. The incident remains under investigation. More information will be posted when it becomes available.