A Sunday morning in Pacific Beach apparently began with somebody doing donuts in a parking lot and ended with a pickup truck on the sand, a police helicopter overhead, officers surrounding the vehicle and confused beachgoers watching the whole thing unfold.
Which is quite an escalation.
San Diego police said they were called around 7:21 a.m. about a gold Nissan Frontier doing donuts in the parking lot of Ocean Pacific Gym and Wellness, according to FOX 5 San Diego. Police said the driver then refused to stop and led officers through Pacific Beach.
Eventually, the chase headed somewhere most drivers would probably consider a dead end: directly onto the beach near Crystal Pier.
The Chase Heads For The Sand
Police described the pursuit as slow-moving but erratic, and officers reportedly tried using spike strips before the Nissan continued toward the shoreline.
Later information released by San Diego police provided some context for the sizable response seen in the video. Officers said they had terminated two attempted ground pursuits because of the driver’s alleged disregard for public safety, then waited until the department’s ABLE helicopter was overhead before trying to track the truck again.
The helicopter followed as the Nissan headed onto the beach and toward the water.
That is where social media video picks up the part of the story that really got people’s attention.
The video shows the pickup stopped on the sand with beachgoers watching from a distance as numerous officers move in. A police K-9 is also visible while the shirtless driver eventually gets out of the truck with his hands raised and kneels on the beach.
Police said he was taken into custody without further incident.
No injuries were reported.
It Wasn’t Just The Donuts
The initial FOX 5 report said the driver was facing a felony evasion charge.
San Diego police later identified the driver as 25-year-old Griffin Charles Foy and said he was booked into San Diego Central Jail on allegations of felony evading a peace officer with wanton disregard for safety, obstructing or resisting a peace officer and driving under the influence of drugs.
Those are allegations, and Foy is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The fuller timeline also answers a question repeatedly raised by people watching the video: Why were there so many cops — and a helicopter — for someone who supposedly started the morning doing donuts?
The helicopter wasn’t apparently summoned because police needed air support for circles in a parking lot. Police said officers had already backed away from ground pursuits and used the aircraft to follow the truck without continuing the same kind of chase through Pacific Beach.
Then the driver allegedly took the whole thing onto a public beach.
Everybody Had The Same Donut Joke
People commenting on the Facebook video understandably had some questions about the spectacle.
“All this law enforcement for a man doing donuts?” one person asked.
Another commenter saw the obvious opening: “Did the cops think it was a call for donuts 🍩 🤔”
“Any time the cops hear there’s donuts… 😎” another wrote.
Someone else wondered about the aircraft specifically: “So they thought that they would need a helicopter for this one? Really?”
And one commenter watching the unusual beachfront surrender observed, “He looks like he has practiced giving up.”
Another had a more geographical explanation for how a Nissan Frontier wound up where beach towels normally go:
“Maybe he got Pacific Beach confused with Pismo Beach? Haha.”
Whatever the explanation, Pacific Beach got something considerably more interesting than the usual Sunday morning donuts.