Man in standoff with police disrupts trolley, trains
OLD TOWN
A trolley line was shut down for several hours Monday near Old Town after a man armed with a knife walked onto the train tracks and told police he wanted them to shoot him, a police spokesman said.
The standoff, which began late in the morning, ended with the man in custody about 3:35 p.m., a police sergeant said.
Police took a call shortly after 11:30 a.m. that a man carrying a knife was walking in the street near Pacific Highway and Washington Street in the Midway District. He eventually walked onto railroad tracks and headed toward the Old Town trolley station, police spokesman Scott Lockwood said.
The Metropolitan Transit Service tweeted an alert around 12:30 p.m. that Green Line service between the Washington Street and Old Town stations was temporarily halted because of police activity.
“Officers are talking to him. He wanted officers to shoot him,” Lockwood said. “We have a perimeter set up on him, and MTS has stopped the trolleys.”
Witnesses told police the man was walking from lane to lane, and then he went onto railroad tracks. The incident also affected at least three of Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner trains, according to tweets from the agency.
Emergency negotiators were called to talk with the man, and a business on Hancock Street was told to shelter in place, police said. Lockwood said officers were trying to persuade the man to drop the weapon and surrender.
Sgt. Kevin Gibson said he was unsure how exactly the standoff ended, but that officers took the man into custody about 3:35 p.m.
About 20 minutes later, MTS tweeted that normal Green Line service on the trolley had resumed.
Staff writer Alex Riggins and City News Service contributed to this report. karen.kucher@sduniontribune.com San Diego police pursuit ends with two of three in custody
SAN DIEGO
Police officers on Monday afternoon chased a suspected stolen vehicle from Mission Valley to Allied Gardens, where they took two people into custody and were continuing to search for a third person, police said.
The pursuit began just before 2:30 p.m. when an officer attempted to stop the vehicle on Camino del Rio North south of the stadium site, San Diego police Officer Scott Lockwood said.
The driver sped away, and police followed the vehicle on Interstate 15 to east Interstate 8, Lockwood said.
The vehicle got off the freeway at the 70th Street and Lake Murray Boulevard exit, then got back on the freeway headed west, according to police radio traffic.
The vehicle exited the freeway again at Waring Road and finally stopped near Waring Road and Orcutt Avenue, where the driver stayed in the vehicle, but two passengers ran away, Lockwood said. Radio traffic indicated that nearby Stephen C. Foster Elementary School was briefly locked down.
Police quickly took the driver into custody, Lockwood said. Radio traffic indicated one of the passengers ran into a home that was being remodeled on Orcutt Avenue, and officers took that person into custody after two construction workers were evacuated safely from the residence.
As of 3:20 p.m., police were still searching for the second passenger, and a police helicopter was circling the area making announcements to be on the lookout for the wanted man, who was reportedly wearing a light blue shirt and khaki shorts.
alex.riggins@sduniontribune.com Five years after Oceanside man fatally shot, mystery continues OCEANSIDE
Five years after a 35-year-old man was shot in his head in front of his Oceanside home, police are turning to the public for help figuring out who killed him.
Brandon Keiser was killed in front of his condo complex on South Freeman Street on March 22, 2016.
Witnesses heard an argument just after 10 p.m. that night, followed by gunshots. Police found Keiser dead on the sidewalk.
Keiser grew up near Escondido and graduated from San Pasqual High School in 1999 before heading to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
Police are hoping someone will come forward with information that helps solve the case, and Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information that leads to an arrest in the case. Anonymous tips can be left by calling Crime Stoppers at (888) 5808477 or online at sdcrimestoppers.org.