San Diego police Sgt. Jeffrey Houchins fired his weapon at a vehicle on May 6 while standing on a grassy embankment near the intersection of San Dieguito Road and Derby Farms Road in the North City neighborhood. The single round struck the front hood of the vehicle, and the driver, Janet Hammel, sustained no injuries.

Police later arrested Hammel, 35, following a pursuit. She was arrested on suspicion of evading police and assault with a deadly weapon on an officer. Body-worn camera footage from the incident was released on Thursday.

The incident began at approximately 11:05 a.m. when police received a report of an occupied stolen vehicle on Tecolote Road near Morena Boulevard. A police helicopter located a parked vehicle matching the description, and officers identified Hammel as the occupant. Hammel then reversed and drove away, initiating a police pursuit.

The pursuit involved the vehicle traveling on Interstate 5 at speeds exceeding 90 mph. The driver did not yield to officers with activated emergency lights. Police terminated the pursuit on San Dieguito Road due to unsafe vehicle operation. On Derby Farms Road, Houchins and another officer deployed spike strips. The vehicle drove onto the embankment, passing between the two officers.

"I shot into the windshield. She drove right at me." Houchins said into his radio. The vehicle continued driving east to the city of Poway. A set of spike strips deployed in Poway punctured the vehicle's tires, and police took the driver into custody after the tires deflated. The San Diego County Sheriff's Office is conducting the investigation under a reciprocal inter-agency agreement, which prohibits either department from investigating its own personnel in on-duty shooting incidents.

No independent assessment of Sgt. Jeffrey Houchins’s claims was available.