SAN DIEGO -- A San Diego County sheriff's deputy chasing a wrong-way driver on a freeway was killed when his marked SUV rolled several times down a ravine on state Route 52, sheriff William Gore said Sunday.

Deputy Ken Collier died at a hospital shortly after the 3:22 a.m. wreck on the freeway in the mountains between Santee and Tierrasanta, the sheriff announced. A county dispatcher who was riding along, Ryan Debellis, was injured, the sheriff said.

An allegedly drunken driver who was the subject of the chase was caught nearby. Jose Jasso Lopez, 23, will be charged with vehicular manslaughter and drunken driving, Gore said.

The deputy and dispatcher were heading west on Route 52 from Santee, when they spotted a wrong-way driver coming at them, and reported the incident to his dispatcher, said CHP officer Brian Pennings.

The deputy reportedly turned around and was trying to overtake the driver. His Ford Expedition, for reasons unknown, went off the freeway and into the center median, where it went down a steep ravine next to a bridge, Gore said.

Westbound Route 52 was closed between Mast and Santos Road for much of the morning, the CHP said.

Sheriff William Gore made the announcement a 10 a.m. news conference at the sheriff's headquarters on Kearny Mesa, which is where Collier and Debellis were heading when the wrongway driver was spotted.