ENCINITAS — A man and a woman were in custody today after a violent crime spree that spanned from Coastal North County to the South Bay, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said.
Around 7 p.m. Wednesday, a man called 911 to report he was the victim of a carjacking in the 800 block of Nolbey Street in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, according to sheriff’s officials. He told police he was carjacked at gunpoint and the suspects drove off in his white Ford Fusion. The victim and another person who witnessed the vehicle theft tried to follow the suspects in another car.
Deputies from the North Coastal Sheriff’s Station and a sheriff’s helicopter searched the surrounding area for the suspects.
A man got out of the stolen vehicle and fired multiple shots at the pursuing carjacking victim and witness in the 900 block of Sandcastle Drive in Cardiff, said Sgt. Jessica Vanoort of the North Coastal Sheriff’s Station. Several unoccupied vehicles were hit by the gunfire, but no one was hurt. The suspects then drove away from the scene.
Just after 8 p.m. Wednesday, deputies found and arrested the suspects, identified as Calvin Brown, 26, and Rolaena Darlene Blunt, 18, at a gym in the 200 block of South El Camino Real in Encinitas. Deputies recovered a handgun and ammunition at the scene.
Deputies later located a burgundy Nissan Versa on Nolbey Street in Cardiff, which was abandoned by the suspects after colliding into two cars before the carjacking of the Ford Fusion. An investigation determined the Versa had been carjacked by the suspects earlier in the day in the city of San Diego.
One of the suspects was involved in an earlier shooting just before 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at a home in the 1100 block of Louden Street in Imperial Beach, police said. When deputies from the Imperial Beach Sheriff’s Substation arrived at the scene, they found a 36-year-old woman who had been shot. She was taken to a hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries. No one else was hurt.
The victim allegedly identified the shooting suspect as Brown, according to Sgt. Samuel Lizarraga of the Imperial Beach Sheriff’s Substation.
Brown and Blunt were booked on multiple felony charges, including suspicion of attempted murder, carjacking and assault with a deadly weapon. Brown was also booked on multiple gun charges.
Brown was being held at San Diego Central Jail and Blunt was being held at Las Colinas Detention and Rentry Facility in Santee. Both were scheduled to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. today.
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