La Mesa

An off-duty sheriff’s deputy fired two shots at a car Sunday as the driver tried to run him down, authorities said.

Shortly before 2 p.m. Sunday, Deputy Fredrick Freigberg saw a security guard running after a man in the parking lot of Grossmont Shopping Center. La Mesa police said the man had stolen 40 jackets from Focus Montgomery Ward and was being pursued by the store’s security when the suspect jumped into a car driven by an accomplice.

Freigberg picked up the security guard and they chased the car west on Interstate 8, taking the College Avenue exit heading north, police said. Freigberg followed the suspects to the 5600 block of Marne Avenue in Del Cerro.

As Freigberg approached the car, the two men got out. When he identified himself, the men got back into the car and drove toward him. He then fired twice at the vehicle, hitting the left front fender and the left front door. The two men abandoned the car and fled on foot, a spokesman for San Diego police said.

The San Diego Police Department, which is investigating the shooting, said they are looking at the incident as an assault with a deadly weapon incident.

La Mesa police said they will treat the crime, which occurred in their jurisdiction, as a commercial burglary since the men stole $2,300 worth of jackets.