Sheriff’s deputy shoots, wounds man armed with metal bar at Spring Valley home

A sheriff ’s deputy shot and wounded a 45year-old man who authorities say threatened others in a home with a metal bed frame bar and then charged at deputies with it in the Casa de Oro area of Spring Valley on Wednesday night.

The county Sheriff’s Department received a call around 7:20 p.m. from the man’s roommate, who said the man had grabbed the metal bar and threatened to kill another resident in their home on Barcelona Street, just north of state Route 94.

The caller said the man was possibly in a mental health crisis, San Diego police Lt. Jud Campbell said. The man’s name has not been released.

The San Diego Police Department is investigating as part of a reciprocal agreement that ensures departments don’t investigate shootings by their own officers or deputies.

When deputies arrived, they got three residents out of the house. They told deputies the man had threatened to kill everyone in their home, Campbell said.

Deputies found the man in a bathroom. He pointed the metal bar at deputies, refused to walk out and made “rambling” remarks, telling deputies to “shoot,” Campbell said.

For about 15 minutes, deputies repeatedly instructed him to drop the metal bar. Then they moved in closer to the bathroom, and one of them fired a Taser. The barbs struck the man, but did not subdue him, Campbell said.

The man then ran out of the bathroom toward deputies in a hallway, holding the metal bar above his head with both hands, the lieutenant said.

That’s when one of the deputies shot the man multiple times.

Paramedics took the man to a hospital where he was listed in serious but stable condition.

No deputies were injured.

The deputy who shot the man has been with the Sheriff ’s Department for a year and a half. He works as a patrol deputy out of the Rancho San Diego substation.

Campbell said investigators recovered a metal bed frame bar that is roughly 5 feet long and has two swinging metal pieces attached to the ends.

EL CAJON

A Caltrans worker was injured early Thursday when a pickup ran into his parked Caltrans vehicle, which then struck the worker, officials said.

The crash and investigation afterward led to all westbound lanes of Interstate 8 in El Cajon to be shut down for about three hours. The lanes reopened just before 1:30 p.m., authorities said.

Vehicles were led off the freeway at East Main Street in El Cajon and then back onto I-8 past the crash site.

The crash was reported just before 10:25 a.m. A traffic alert was issued 15 minutes later. At one point, traffic was backed up to Lake Jennings Park Road.

The crash occurred when a driver in a Chevrolet pickup ran into a Caltrans vehicle that was stopped on the right shoulder of the freeway for reasons that were unknown, said CHP Officer Jared Grieshaber.

The Caltrans maintenance worker was working outside of his vehicle, and when the pickup veered over and hit the unoccupied Caltrans truck, it ran into the worker, Grieshaber said.

The Caltrans worker suffered injuries believed to be moderate to major but not life threatening, and was taken to a hospital.

The pickup driver suffered minor injuries but declined being taken to the hospital and said he would seek medical aid on his own. He was released at the scene, Grieshaber said.

A motorcycle rider died after he crashed into the back of a tow truck on the freeway in Chula Vista Wednesday, California Highway Patrol officials said.

The 30-year-old man was riding a motorcycle north on Interstate 805, just south of Telegraph Canyon Road, around 6 a.m. when he struck the tow truck that was stopped in the center divider, said Samuel Mendoza, a CHP spokesman, in a news release.

The rider was taken to a hospital, where he died, Mendoza said.

No other injuries were reported.

The CHP closed the two far left northbound lanes of I-805 in the area while officers investigated the incident, Mendoza said.

The motorcycle rider’s name was not released, pending notification of family.

A man and a woman charged in the killing of a man whose body was dumped off a rural road in Jamul pleaded not guilty Wednesday to felony charges.

Victor Flores, 40, and Ally Case, 36, were charged in Chula Vista Superior Court with being an accessory after the fact in connection with the stabbing death of Jesse Valdez, 40.

The Imperial Beach resident was killed at a Chula Vista hotel, and his body was later dumped off Skyline Truck Trail in Jamul, according to Chula Vista police and county prosecutors.

Flores and Case, also known as Ally Mistone, each face three years in state prison if convicted.

Attempts to reach their attorneys for comment were unsuccessful.

Case was arrested last week was ordered Wednesday to remain held in county jail on a no-bail status.

Flores was being treated at a hospital for an undisclosed medical issue and appeared in court via Internet. When he is released from the hospital, he will be booked into jail without bail, according to the county District Attorney’s Office.

Both of them are accused of helping Jorge Rodriguez, 35, who was charged with murder in the death of Valdez. Rodriguez pleaded not guilty Tuesday.

He faces a possible sentence of 75 years to life in prison, plus 11 years, if convicted of the murder charge and allegations that he has previous convictions for attempted robbery and making criminal threats.

During Rodriguez’s arraignment, Deputy District Attorney Evan Andersen said Valdez’s mother last saw him April 1 and reported him missing six days later. Investigators determined his “last known location” was the Red Room Inn, located on Broadway near G Street.

Surveillance video obtained from the hotel shows that Valdez walked into a room at 12:40 p.m. on April 1, Andersen said. A minute later, Rodriguez entered, wearing gloves. Two minutes later, Rodriguez walked out with a shirt over his face.

About 15 hours later, early the next day, Rodriguez returned to the room with cleaning supplies in hand. An hour later, he carried a body wrapped in a white comforter out of the room and loaded the body into “the back” of a vehicle, then left, Andersen said.

Investigators found Valdez’s body on Saturday.