EL CAJON, Calif. - Sentencing is scheduled Monday for a Colorado man who tried to run down an officer with a stolen car at the end of a chase through El Cajon, prompting a police shooting that killed a woman riding in the suspect's car.
Geoffrey Hayden Sims, 34, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, evading police with reckless driving and resisting an officer. He is expected to be sentenced to seven years and four months in prison.
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The series of events that led to the fatal shooting of 25-year-old Kelsey Rose Hauser of Conifer, Colorado, began about 1:30 a.m. Jan. 16, when Sims was pulled over in the area of West Main Street and Walter Way in El Cajon.
Sims -- who, in addition to Hauser, had two other men and a dog in the vehicle with him -- yielded briefly, then drove off, heading north on Second Street and then west on Interstate 8 at speeds up to 90 mph, authorities said.
Officers with the El Cajon Police Department and the California Highway Patrol tailed the red 2014 Toyota Yaris hatchback as it exited the freeway at West Main Street and continued into the 300 block of South Pierce Street. Reaching a cul-de-sac, Sims did a U-turn and stopped again, ECPD Lt. Frank La Haye said.
Moments later, the suspect sped toward El Cajon Officer Samson Pak as the lawman was getting out of his patrol car. Pak fired at least four rounds in self-defense, fatally wounding Hauser and the pit bull riding in the Toyota, according to police. Following the gunfire, the suspect's car crashed into two cruisers.
Paramedics took Hauser to Sharp Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Sims was arrested along with his two back-seat passengers, Brian Alan Blafield, 20, and 36-year-old Todd Zigler, both of El Cajon. Blafield was booked into jail on drug possession charges. Zigler was questioned and released.
At the time of the pursuit, both Sims and Hauser were subjects of felony arrest warrants issued in Colorado.
