San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
MAN KILLED BY FALLING TREE NEAR LAKE HODGES ON FRIDAY
A man was killed by a falling tree, possibly while it was being trimmed or cut down, on Friday afternoon near Lake Hodges, authorities said.
The incident occurred about 4:20 p.m. on Thorn Lane, a short residential street between Lake Drive and Del Dios Road along the western shoreline of Lake Hodges, sheriff ’s Lt. Ryan Wisniewski said.
Authorities believe workers were trimming or cutting down a tree when the tree, or a part of it, fell on a man, Wisniewski said. Deputies and paramedics responded, but the man died at the scene.
Wisniewski said the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health would be handling the investigation along with the Medical Examiner’s Office.
No other information about the incident or the victim was released.
alex.riggins@sduniontribune.com
Police search for suspect in fatal City Heights shooting
Police on Friday identified a 52year-old man who was gunned down early Monday morning in a City Heights alley.
Wendell Eddington was fatally shot around 4:15 a.m. in an alley just off Orange Avenue between 35th Street and Swift Avenue, San Diego police homicide Lt. Jud Campbell said in a news release.
Several 911 callers reported the shooting, and officers arrived to find Eddington suffering from at least one gunshot wound, Campbell said. He died at the scene.
Campbell did not say what detectives believe might have led up to the shooting. It was unclear if investigators had identified a suspect, but the lieutenant said there “is no suspect information to release at this time.”
Anyone with information about the shooting was asked to call San Diego police homicide investigators at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers’ anonymous tip line at (888) 580-8477.
alex.riggins@sduniontribune.com
Couple in murder-suicide at Point Loma home identified
Police on Friday released the names of a married couple who died in a murder-suicide Monday night in their Point Loma-area home.
Police said it appears Stanley Ribeiro, 86, shot his wife, Anita Ribeiro, 83, then shot himself at the couple’s home on Lowell Street near Nimitz Boulevard.
The incident was reported about 7:30 p.m. Police arrived and attempted life-saving measures until paramedics took over, but the couple died.
teri.figueroa@sduniontribune.com Police raid home of suspected drug dealer
El Cajon police detectives raided a suspected drug dealer’s home and vehicle Thursday in San Diego, finding five ghost guns and a machine used for manufacturing firearms along with thousands of pills, three pounds of fentanyl and $30,000 cash, police said.
Detectives from El Cajon’s special investigations unit had obtained search warrants for the 26year-old San Diego resident after identifying him as a drug dealer operating in El Cajon and throughout East County, El Cajon police officials said in a news release.
With help from the U.S. Marshals Service’s regional fugitive task force, El Cajon policeserved the warrants around 3:30 p.m. Thursday at a residence on Rancho Mission Road, between Friars and San Diego Mission roads in San Diego’s Grantville neighborhood, police said.
While detaining the suspect, detectives found a loaded ghost gun — or a firearm with no serial number that is often assembled by hand from prepackaged parts — in his waistband and methamphetamine in his vehicle, police officials said.
Detectives discovered four additional ghost guns in the man’s residence, including a semi-automatic Ar-15-style rifle, as well as high-capacity magazines, a bulletproof vest and the machine used for making guns, police said. They also found the fentanyl and more than 2,200 pills of various kinds.
Police arrested the man, who they said had previous convictions for identity theft and evading police, on suspicion of several felony charges, including manufacturing firearms, being a felon in possession of a firearm, carrying a concealed firearm in public and several counts of possessing drugs for sale.