Trespassing man dies after struggle with casino security guards in Chula Vista
Chula Vista police were investigating the death of a man who lost consciousness Monday night during a struggle with three security guards at Seven Mile Casino.
The incident occurred about 9 p.m. at the casino on Bay Boulevard near F Street, police said.
Police said the man, 46, whose name was not released, had assaulted security staff two days earlier. At the time he was “advised he was no longer welcomed at the casino, and if he returned, he would be arrested for trespassing,” Lt. Dan Peak said in a statement.
When the man returned Monday, he was asked to leave. He left but then returned and assaulted security staff while trying to re-enter the casino, Peak said.
Three security guards tried to detain the man and that’s when the struggle unfolded, police said.
During the scuffle, the man lost consciousness and then stopped breathing. Paramedics worked to save the man, but he died at a hospital, Peak said.
The lieutenant said security guards were cooperating with investigators, who were “working to determine the circumstances of the case.” No arrests had been made as of Tuesday.
Investigators were also trying to locate witnesses. The Police Department asked anyone with information about the incident to call the department at (619) 691-5151 or San Diego County Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.
david.hernandez@sduniontribune.com
Coaster train strikes, kills pedestrian in Oceanside OCEANSIDE
A Coaster commuter train stuck and killed a pedestrian at a railroad crossing in Oceanside on Tuesday morning, a sheriff’s official said.
The incident occurred about 9:30 a.m. at the Surfrider Way crossing near North Cleveland Street, Deputy James Steinmeyer said.
The pedestrian, whose age and gender were not released, died at the scene.
No further information was immediately available.
david.hernandez@sduniontribune.com
Man arrested on suspicion of arson in fire at motel
SAN DIEGO
A 52-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of arson early Tuesday after San Diego police said he lit the contents of a motel room in the Stockton neighborhood on fire.
Firefighters responded to a fire reported at the motel around 12:30 a.m. on 32nd Street near G Street. When crews arrived, they found heavy smoke coming from a firstfloor room in the two-story motel called the Lodge at 32nd, fire officials said.
Crews had the blaze knocked down in around 10 minutes. Damage was estimated at $35,000, including $5,000 to the room’s contents, officials said.
Police arrested a man who had been inside the motel room with a woman. San Diego police Sgt. Rick Pechin, a member of the city’s Metro Strike Arson Team, said the man was “having mental health issues” and lit the contents of the room on fire.
Both people were able to get out of the room uninjured, Pechin said.
The man was arrested and taken for a mental health evaluation. He was later booked into jail, Pechin said.
karen.kucher@sduniontribune.com
Woman driving stolen car arrested after evading police LA MESA
A 31-year-old woman driving a stolen car allegedly involved in a hit-and-run crash was arrested early Tuesday after leading La Mesa police on a chase, authorities said.
The collision was reported shortly after 12:20 a.m. on Fletcher Parkway near Baltimore Drive in the parking lot of a Heritage Inn. Investigators learned the car had been stolen from the parking lot of the motel and then struck a vehicle in the lot, causing the other driver to sustain minor injuries, said police Lt. Katy Lynch.
Officers located the vehicle about five minutes later in a strip mall parking lot on El Cajon Boulevard near Baltimore and tried to pull the driver over, but she took off.
Officers chased the car, with a sheriff’s helicopter monitoring from overhead, as the woman drove to the College Grove area and then back to La Mesa, Lynch said.
The driver pulled over around 1 a.m. and was arrested on suspicion of felony evading, hit and run and auto theft.
karen.kucher@sduniontribune.com
Six Molotov cocktails found in car; man arrested in Vista
VISTA
Sheriff’s deputies arrested a man Monday morning in Vista after six Molotov cocktails were found in his car, but detectives don’t know if he had any intended targets for the homemade explosives, authorities said.
Deputies found the 33-year-old suspect around 5:30 a.m. sitting in his car on Ridge Road near Sunset Drive after someone reported that a man was illegally camping in the area, according to Sgt. Greg Hampton from the sheriff ’s bomb/ arson unit.
While making contact with the man, deputies first noticed a loaded crossbow in his front passenger seat, and during a preliminary search of the vehicle found a military-style ammunition can containing large food storage bags labeled “Ammonium Nitrate” and “Potassium Nitrate,” Hampton said in a news release.
Both substances are chemical compounds that can be used to make explosives.
Because the deputies believed the car might contain explosives or precursors to explosives, they backed away, set up a perimeter, blocked traffic in the area and warned nearby residents to shelter in their homes, Hampton said. They also called on the sheriff’s bomb/arson unit to investigate.
Detectives from that unit searched the car along with federal agents from the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Hampton said. During the search detectives allegedly discovered the Molotov cocktails, an unidentified black powder and a small amount of methamphetamine.
Deputies arrested the man on suspicion of several felony charges related to unlawful possession of explosive devices, Hampton said. Though detectives did not identify any “intended target” of the explosives, authorities asked for him to be held in lieu of $500,000, which a judge granted.
Jail records showed the man was booked into the Vista Detention Facility on suspicion of four felony charges related to the explosives and one misdemeanor drug charge.
Hampton confirmed the man was also a San Diego County Crime Stoppers “fugitive of the week” in late January 2020 who at the time was wanted on a no-bail warrant on suspicion of obstructing or resisting an officer.
Crime Stoppers said the man had prior convictions for theft of utility services, resisting an officer, and drug possession.