SAN DIEGO – A man wanted in a car theft led sheriff's deputies on a chase that began Thursday night and went from one end of the county to the other before ending early Friday morning with the arrest of the driver and his passenger.

Sheriff's deputies spotted the 1985 silver Honda Prelude on Maryland Drive and Olive Avenue in Vista about 11:20 p.m., Sheriff's Lt. Phil Brust said. He said the car had been reported stolen from San Marcos.

He said the deputies followed the car and tried to get its driver to pull over, but he quickly sped away on a path that went through Vista, San Marcos, Oceanside, Escondido and south San Diego.

The man drove south on Interstate 15 to westbound state Route 56, then got off the freeway and onto southbound Interstate 5 and then southbound Interstate 805.

The driver got off the freeway at Palm Avenue and drove through southern San Diego neighborhoods before he stopped at a dead end in Border Field State Park.

The driver and passenger tried to run away, but deputies arrested the two with help from a sheriff's department helicopter crew and dog teams from the California Highway Patrol.

The 30-year-old driver was arrested on suspicion of evading police, a felony. He also had a felony arrest warrant for a prior stolen vehicle charge, Brust said.

The woman, 29, is wanted for a parole violation.

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