{"id":321,"date":"2026-05-12T00:31:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T07:31:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/12\/escondido-police-release-video-of-officers-fatally-shooting-driver-following-freeway-chase\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T00:31:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T07:31:21","slug":"escondido-police-release-video-of-officers-fatally-shooting-driver-following-freeway-chase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/12\/escondido-police-release-video-of-officers-fatally-shooting-driver-following-freeway-chase\/","title":{"rendered":"Escondido police release video of officers fatally shooting driver following freeway chase"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>The Escondido Police Department has released a video of three officers fatally shooting a driver after a wrong-way freeway pursuit that resulted in a crash last year in the Scripps Ranch area.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/12\/driver-who-had-been-removed-from-u-s-4-times-pleads-guilty-in-boys-fatal-hit-run-crash\/\">Driver who had been removed from U.S. 4 times pleads guilty in boy\u2019s fatal hit-run crash<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Officers James Albrego, Aaron Palomino and Corey Montross shot Maria Toedt after she led the officers on a high-speed pursuit from Escondido to Interstate 15 near state Route 163 in San Diego on Aug. 29.<\/p>\n<p>The California Attorney General\u2019s Office is investigating the shooting due to Assembly Bill 1506, which requires the state Department of Justice to investigate whenever an unarmed civilian is fatally shot by law enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>The video released Thursday begins with Escondido police Chief Ken Plunkett saying that the pursuit began when officers spotted Toedt \u2014 who was wanted on burglary and vehicle evasion warrants \u2014 on Bear Valley Parkway near Oak Hill Drive.<\/p>\n<p>The video shows San Diego Police Department helicopter footage of a vehicle driving south on I-15, using the left-hand side emergency access lanes to pass vehicles at a high speed.<\/p>\n<p>The vehicle weaved in and out of traffic, sometimes at speeds exceeding 100 mph, before the driver called 911 and she spoke with an operator, the video shows.<\/p>\n<p>Toedt told the operator that the police are pursuing her, and she wanted to relay to the officers that the situation would end with her \u201cin a body bag.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause I\u2019m not going in alive,\u201d Toedt told the operator in an audio recording of the call presented in the video. \u201cCan you tell the cops to back off? I have a gun, and I will shoot.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Toedt exited the freeway a handful of times, taking surface streets, before driving back onto the freeway, the video shows.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/11\/trump-says-hell-move-to-suspend-federal-gasoline-tax-he-cant-do-it-on-his-own\/\">Trump says he\u2019ll move to suspend federal gasoline tax. He can\u2019t do it on his own<\/a><\/p>\n<p>While driving on I-15 toward SR-163, her vehicle cut across multiple lanes of traffic into oncoming cars. She then headed in the opposite direction of traffic when a pursuing police vehicle crashed into her and another vehicle.<\/p>\n<p>The video cuts to body-worn camera footage, showing officers exiting their vehicles on the freeway to detain Toedt, who was sitting in the disabled vehicle\u2019s driver\u2019s seat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen officers exited their vehicles and approached on foot, Toedt did not comply with their commands and made a series of sudden, furtive movements,\u201d Plunkett said.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>At that moment, an officer opened fire at least three times, the video shows. Toedt paused after the initial gunfire and then appeared to leap toward her backseat. Multiple officers then fired into the vehicle, the video shows.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBased on Toedt\u2019s non-compliant behavior, and her prior statements about being armed with a gun, three officers fired at her,\u201d the chief said.<\/p>\n<p>Officers removed the mortally wounded woman from the vehicle to administer medical aid, the video shows. She died at a hospital.<\/p>\n<p>The Department of Justice declined to provide further details about the shooting Monday, saying that its investigation remained ongoing.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/11\/treasury-department-tells-us-banks-to-flag-suspected-iranian-money-laundering-networks\/\">Treasury Department tells US banks to flag suspected Iranian money-laundering networks<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Escondido police officers James Albrego, Aaron Palomino and Corey Montross fatally shot Maria Toedt after a freeway pursuit ended in Scripps Ranch on Aug. 29<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":320,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime-and-public-safety"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Escondido police release video of officers fatally shooting driver following freeway chase - Los Angeles Moving Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/12\/escondido-police-release-video-of-officers-fatally-shooting-driver-following-freeway-chase\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Escondido police release video of officers fatally shooting driver following freeway chase - Los Angeles Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Escondido police officers James Albrego, Aaron Palomino and Corey Montross fatally shot Maria Toedt after a freeway pursuit ended in Scripps Ranch on Aug. 29\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/12\/escondido-police-release-video-of-officers-fatally-shooting-driver-following-freeway-chase\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Los Angeles Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-12T07:31:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/12\\\/escondido-police-release-video-of-officers-fatally-shooting-driver-following-freeway-chase\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/12\\\/escondido-police-release-video-of-officers-fatally-shooting-driver-following-freeway-chase\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b7f420a994f0482cf24e152087599bfb\"},\"headline\":\"Escondido police release video of officers fatally shooting driver following freeway chase\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-12T07:31:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/12\\\/escondido-police-release-video-of-officers-fatally-shooting-driver-following-freeway-chase\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":535,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/12\\\/escondido-police-release-video-of-officers-fatally-shooting-driver-following-freeway-chase\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/7091be83b49e315f5b9e2d51082f9469.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Crime and Public Safety\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/12\\\/escondido-police-release-video-of-officers-fatally-shooting-driver-following-freeway-chase\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/12\\\/escondido-police-release-video-of-officers-fatally-shooting-driver-following-freeway-chase\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/12\\\/escondido-police-release-video-of-officers-fatally-shooting-driver-following-freeway-chase\\\/\",\"name\":\"Escondido police release video of officers fatally shooting driver following freeway chase - Los Angeles Moving Insider\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/12\\\/escondido-police-release-video-of-officers-fatally-shooting-driver-following-freeway-chase\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/12\\\/escondido-police-release-video-of-officers-fatally-shooting-driver-following-freeway-chase\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/7091be83b49e315f5b9e2d51082f9469.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-12T07:31:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b7f420a994f0482cf24e152087599bfb\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/12\\\/escondido-police-release-video-of-officers-fatally-shooting-driver-following-freeway-chase\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/12\\\/escondido-police-release-video-of-officers-fatally-shooting-driver-following-freeway-chase\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/12\\\/escondido-police-release-video-of-officers-fatally-shooting-driver-following-freeway-chase\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/7091be83b49e315f5b9e2d51082f9469.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/7091be83b49e315f5b9e2d51082f9469.webp\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":720},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/12\\\/escondido-police-release-video-of-officers-fatally-shooting-driver-following-freeway-chase\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Escondido police release video of officers fatally shooting driver following freeway chase\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Los Angeles Moving Insider\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b7f420a994f0482cf24e152087599bfb\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Escondido police release video of officers fatally shooting driver following freeway chase - Los Angeles Moving Insider","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/12\/escondido-police-release-video-of-officers-fatally-shooting-driver-following-freeway-chase\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Escondido police release video of officers fatally shooting driver following freeway chase - Los Angeles Moving Insider","og_description":"Escondido police officers James Albrego, Aaron Palomino and Corey Montross fatally shot Maria Toedt after a freeway pursuit ended in Scripps Ranch on Aug. 29","og_url":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/12\/escondido-police-release-video-of-officers-fatally-shooting-driver-following-freeway-chase\/","og_site_name":"Los Angeles Moving Insider","article_published_time":"2026-05-12T07:31:21+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/12\/escondido-police-release-video-of-officers-fatally-shooting-driver-following-freeway-chase\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/12\/escondido-police-release-video-of-officers-fatally-shooting-driver-following-freeway-chase\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b7f420a994f0482cf24e152087599bfb"},"headline":"Escondido police release video of officers fatally shooting driver following freeway chase","datePublished":"2026-05-12T07:31:21+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/12\/escondido-police-release-video-of-officers-fatally-shooting-driver-following-freeway-chase\/"},"wordCount":535,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/12\/escondido-police-release-video-of-officers-fatally-shooting-driver-following-freeway-chase\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/7091be83b49e315f5b9e2d51082f9469.webp","articleSection":["Crime and Public Safety"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/12\/escondido-police-release-video-of-officers-fatally-shooting-driver-following-freeway-chase\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/12\/escondido-police-release-video-of-officers-fatally-shooting-driver-following-freeway-chase\/","url":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/12\/escondido-police-release-video-of-officers-fatally-shooting-driver-following-freeway-chase\/","name":"Escondido police release video of officers fatally shooting driver following freeway chase - Los Angeles Moving Insider","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/12\/escondido-police-release-video-of-officers-fatally-shooting-driver-following-freeway-chase\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/12\/escondido-police-release-video-of-officers-fatally-shooting-driver-following-freeway-chase\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/7091be83b49e315f5b9e2d51082f9469.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-12T07:31:21+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b7f420a994f0482cf24e152087599bfb"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/12\/escondido-police-release-video-of-officers-fatally-shooting-driver-following-freeway-chase\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/12\/escondido-police-release-video-of-officers-fatally-shooting-driver-following-freeway-chase\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/12\/escondido-police-release-video-of-officers-fatally-shooting-driver-following-freeway-chase\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/7091be83b49e315f5b9e2d51082f9469.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/7091be83b49e315f5b9e2d51082f9469.webp","width":1024,"height":720},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/12\/escondido-police-release-video-of-officers-fatally-shooting-driver-following-freeway-chase\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Escondido police release video of officers fatally shooting driver following freeway chase"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/","name":"Los Angeles Moving Insider","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b7f420a994f0482cf24e152087599bfb","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com"],"url":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}