SAN DIEGO -- A vehicle bearing SDG&E stickers and loaded with 551 pounds of marijuana crashed during a pursuit in East County Monday, and the driver was taken into custody, authorities said.

The chase began when the suspect refused to pull over for Border Patrol agents on Jewell Valley Road in Boulevard about 8 a.m., Agent Dora Doyle of the Border Patrol said.

The suspect had been spotted driving east toward the Tecate Point of Entry in Mexico, then returning quickly, indicating a drug pickup, Doyle said.

"This area is notorious for alien and drug smuggling'' operations, Doyle said, and it was unusual to see a SDG&E truck in the vicinity.

When agents ran the license plate number, they determined that the Ford F-150 truck belonged to a private party, not the utility company, Doyle said.

A "slow'' pursuit by agents in ground vehicles and a helicopter ensued.

The truck crashed on Buckman Springs Road, just north of Oak Drive, about 9 a.m., Doyle said.

The driver got out and was caught a short time later, Doyle said.

The suspect -- who initially told paramedics his neck was broken -- was airlifted to Scripps Mercy Hospital, California Highway Patrol Officer Brian Pennings said.

A condition report was not immediately available.