SAN DIEGO – A stolen vehicle suspect was arrested Monday after leading police on a pursuit that ended in San Diego’s Fairmount Park neighborhood.

Officers were alerted about 5:15 a.m. about the stolen Mercedes-Benz in the area of Linda Vista Road and Comstock Street, San Diego police Lt. Christian Sharp said. They started tracking the vehicle through its LoJack system, a vehicle recovery program that uses GPS to monitor its position.

Sharp said officers responded to the area where it was stolen and soon lost the signal. It then was located sitting in a gas station located at Friars Road and Fashion Valley Road with the driver still inside.

When officers attempted to arrest the suspect, Sharp said he refused to get out of the car.

“We started making plans to block off his avenues of escape, shut down Friars, set up spike strips,” he said. “Unfortunately, the driver then drove around our spike strips, over the center median and was able to get around the police cars and then a pursuit started.”

The chase went southbound on state Route 163 onto Interstate 5 and got off at National, primarily keeping “mild” speeds but getting up to about 70 mph on the freeway, Sharp said. From there, the suspect led police through the downtown area and then got back onto state Route 94 before exiting again at Home Avenue.

He kept speeds “relatively slow” until he ended up at the dead-end of Ash Street by Home Avenue. That wouldn’t be the end, however, as Sharp said the driver continued to ignore the commands of officers.

“Numerous times, we tried talking to him over the PA, tried to have him call into our dispatch,” he said. “He refused. At some point, we determined it was time to force him to get out of the car.”

Officers then deployed a projectile known as pepper balls through a side window of the car. Soon thereafter, Sharp said the suspect started to comply with authorities and came out of the vehicle.

Police were attempting to learn the suspect’s name as he was not carrying identification when apprehended. The man faces multiple felony charges for Monday’s incident, including auto theft and for the pursuit.

No injuries were reported.