Boy stabbed, hospitalized after brawl; arrest made

IMPERIAL BEACH

A brawl between several teens Wednesday afternoon at an Imperial Beach park ended with one boy being stabbed and rushed to a hospital for emergency surgery, and a second boy in custody on suspicion of assault, authorities said.

The suspect, whose mother called the Sheriff ’s Department to report her son’s involvement, claimed he stabbed the other boy in self defense, San Diego sheriff ’s Sgt. Samuel Lizarraga said in a news release.

The large fight was reported about 2:40 p.m. at Veterans Park off Imperial Beach Boulevard and Eighth Street, according to Lizarraga, a sergeant from the sheriff ’s Imperial Beach substation.

A 911 caller told dispatchers that a boy was stabbed in the stomach during the fight, and when deputies arrived they found a 16-year-old victim with a puncture wound to his lower abdomen area, Lizarraga said. Some of the other teens involved in the melee were still in the area, while others had fled.

Deputies treated the boy’s stab wound with hemostatic gauze, which is designed to help quickly clot and stop bleeding, until paramedics arrived and took him to a San Diego hospital, Lizarraga said. Doctors performed emergency surgery on the boy, who was in stable condition Wednesday night and expected to survive.

Minutes after the fight, a mother called sheriff ’s dispatchers to report her son had been involved in the incident, Lizarraga said. Deputies went to the family’s residence, where they seized two knives and arrested the boy on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.

The boy was booked into juvenile detention, Lizarraga said. His name and age were not released, but the sergeant said there was “preliminary evidence” that contradicted his self-defense claim.

alex.riggins@sduniontribune.com

In a statement, U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman said, “Drug dealers are playing with fire when they sell illicit drugs because deadly fentanyl is everywhere. Dealers beware: the counterfeit pills or powder you sell will inevitably be laced with fentanyl. If you provide the fatal pill or powder, you will be held responsible for the victim’s death.”

Firefighters rescue dog from City Heights house fire

SAN DIEGO

Firefighters rescued a small dog from a house fire in City Heights on Thursday morning, fire officials said.

Several 911 callers reported the fire at the home on 43rd Street between Orange and Polk avenues about 8:30 a.m.

Firefighters found the fire in a back house. The fire consumed a bed before crews got a handle on the blaze, which was contained to a bedroom, said San Diego Fire-Rescue Department Battalion Chief Brian Raines.

Crews rescued the dog from the room, which was filled with smoke, Raines said.

The battalion chief said no one was injured.

The cause of the fire was under investigation. Raines said it appeared accidental in nature.

San Diego Fire-Rescue spokesperson Jose Ysea said four residents were displaced.