Men arrested after car chase closes border

BLAINE, Wash. – A high-speed chase that ended in gunfire closed the U.S.-Canadian border crossing near here for hours Tuesday. Two men sought in a California homicide were arrested after one of them was shot and wounded.

The saga began at midafternoon after the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office received a tip that two men sought in the California case could be headed to the area, Sheriff Bill Elfo said.

A car carrying two men matching the description was seen in Custer, about six miles south of the border on Interstate 5. When a deputy tried to stop the car, the occupants sped off, reaching speeds of 100 mph, Elfo said.

They drove their car through the U.S. Customs station at the Peace Arch crossing. The vehicle veered across Peace Arch Park, at one point driving north in the interstate’s southbound lane.

The men were eventually stopped by a sheriff’s officer who rammed their car with his vehicle, Elfo said. The men tried to run away, shots were fired and one man was wounded, he said.

The crossing is one of the busiest on the U.S. northern border. Traffic was diverted to the Pacific Highway crossing about a mile to the east as authorities investigated.

Lt. Mark Gagan of the Richmond, Calif., police confirmed that Ishtiaq Hussain, 38, and Jose Antonio Barajas, 22, were arrested after approaching the border and failing to stop. He also confirmed that Hussain had been shot and wounded. His condition was not available Tuesday evening.

Both men were sought in the Saturday shooting death of a 43-year-old man in a Richmond apartment, Gagan said.

No one else was injured in the chase and capture, Elfo said.

Detectives from Richmond planned to fly to Washington to interview the men, Gagan said.