2 DEPUTIES ARRESTED AFTER FIGHT IN BAR

Two off-duty deputies were arrested on suspicion of public intoxication after a fight in a Ramona bar over the weekend, sheriff ’s officials said Wednesday.

They are the third and fourth county deputies to be arrested this year.

About 8 p.m. Saturday, deputies responded to reports of a fight in a bar on Main Street near Sixth Street, the Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.

Witnesses told deputies an argument between a group of patrons had escalated into a physical fight, officials said. “During the investigation, it was learned Deputies Tara Heath and Shawn Kobs were involved in the altercation,” the department said.

Heath and Kobs were booked into the Vista jail on suspicion of public intoxication, the department said. They were released on their own recognizance about 5 a.m. Sunday.

“This type of incident is disappointing and was handled appropriately by responding deputies,” the statement read.

Sheriff’s officials said both deputies were placed on paid administrative assignment.

Heath has been with the department since 2012 and is assigned to the Vista Sheriff’s Station, officials said. Kobs has been with the department since 2005 and is assigned to the Special Enforcement Detail.

Two other deputy arrests have occurred this year.

On Friday, the department arrested Deputy Allen Wereski, 48, on suspicion of bringing drugs onto jail property after cocaine was found in his car at a San Diego County jail, sheriff ’s officials said in a news release. Sheriff ’s officials did not reveal at which jail the offense allegedly occurred.

In January, the department arrested a deputy they suspected had taken prescription drugs from a drop box in a sheriff ’s station. Deputy Cory Richey, 39, pleaded not guilty in San Diego Superior Court to burglary and drug possession charges.

During Richey’s arraignment Jan. 10, Deputy District Attorney Cal Logan said the deputy accessed a patrol station after hours on several occasions and took medications from a box where people can dispose of prescription drugs.

Wereski and Richey were suspended without pay.