SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A San Diego-based U.S. Border Patrol SWAT team was at Big Bear Saturday, assisting in the search for a fired Los Angeles police officer.
Border Patrol agents were assisting San Bernardino sheriff's deputies and Riverside police in the mountain resort, where suspect 33-year-old Christopher Jordan Dorner's pickup truck was found burning just off a forest road Friday.
"Customs and Border Protection officers and agents from the Office of Field Operations, U.S. Border Patrol and the Office of Air and Marine are participating in and providing assistance in the manhunt for Christopher Dorner, as requested by the local law enforcement authorities," Border Patrol Agent Steve Pitts said.
Pitts said local agents, including those who staffed the checkpoints in San Diego County were advised to "continue to be vigilant and if they spot the individual, they will detain him."
San Diego police Sgt. Ray Battrick said SDPD personnel were being updated with any new information that came up in the investigation into what he said was "a dangerous individual."
Dorner, a former Navy officer, had been staying Tuesday at the Navy Base Point Loma.
Police believed he had tried to steal a boat during his crime spree, which led to increased surveillance of those headed into Mexico, U-T San Diego reported.
Early Saturday, CHP officials reported that only two traffic lanes were open on southbound Interstate 5 at the Mexican border, and officers in body armor were seen at the crossing.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman Angelica De Cima said no lane closures were related to the search, but would not explain the unusual traffic restrictions.
