Category: San Diego

A Navy detective pleaded guilty Thursday to using excessive force against a detained man and lying about his previous career with the El Cajon Police Department. Jonathan Christopher Laroche, 40, pleaded guilty to depriving the man of his rights in connection with an incident on Nov. 14 at Naval Base San Diego, federal prosecutors said. According to prosecutors, Laroche was working as a detective with the Navy’s Criminal Investigations Division when a man, identified in court documents only by the initials G.D., was detained by Naval officers. Prosecutors said Laroche did not know why the man had been detained but followed the military law enforcement officers into a room G.D. was being held in. Laroche admitted in his plea agreement that he entered the room and immediately took G.D. to the ground and used a carotid restraint for 17 seconds. The detained man then lost consciousness. After the man regained consciousness he was taken into a main room of the security building and handcuffed to a bench, according to the plea. During the interaction, Laroche grabbed G.D. by the throat and pushed his head into

San Diego saw a dramatic surge in homes approved for construction during 2023, nearly twice as many as were approved the year prior and the highest number in a single year since at least 2005. City planning officials, who said it’s likely this was the most homes approved in a single year since the 1980s, credited the surge to a variety of developer incentives spearheaded by Mayor Todd Gloria in recent years. More than 86 percent of the new units are near transit, which could help the city meet its climate change goals. But officials said not enough are in high-resource areas with good jobs and schools. The surge went beyond approvals for market-rate homes, which rose by 51 percent year over year. Approvals of rent-restricted homes for low-income residents were up eightfold and those for very low-income residents more than doubled. Despite the surge, San Diego remains significantly below pace for meeting its state housing goals, which require the city to approve 108,036 new housing units between 2020 and 2029. The 9,693 homes approved last year brings the city’s four-year total to 25,692. That means San

POWAY, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) — During a rally Friday, Poway Mayor Steve Vaus said the California Department of State Hospitals has withdrawn its recommendation to place a sexually violent predator at a home in the city. The apparent retraction came less than a week after officials announced the proposed placement for Merle Wakefield, who was convicted of several sexual assaults in the 1980s and 1990s. He was ordered for conditional release by the San Diego Superior Court earlier this year. It was the third location proposed by state officials for Wakefield since 2021, when he was first up for conditional release. Man who killed 3 people, including infant, sentenced to prison The initial recommendation from state officials, which was at a home in the Mount Helix neighborhood, was rejected by a judge in May of 2021, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department. Two months later, state officials proposed a Borrego Springs placement, but that was called off after a judge granted a request from the healthcare provider who operates the conditional release program that Wakefield undergo additional treatment. A hearing on the Poway

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — One person was seriously injured in a suspected DUI crash involving two vehicles Friday morning in Chula Vista, authorities said. The Chula Vista Police Department said several calls came in around 3 a.m. reporting a crash at the intersection of Telegraph Canyon Road and Paseo Ladera. Responding officers found a driver trapped inside one of the vehicles in the intersection. Fire crews also arrived at the scene and were able to extricate them, the department explained. That person was the transported to a local hospital where they remain in critical condition. Meanwhile, the other driver, a 19-year-old National City man, sustained minor injuries and was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, police said. The names of the drivers are being withheld at this time. The Traffic Bureau was called to the scene to investigate the collision. Telegraph Canyon Road was temporarily closed between Heritage Road and Medical Center during that time. The area has since reopened to traffic. Anyone that witnessed the collision or has additional information is asked to contact the police department at 619-409-3817.

Has inflation finally been whipped? Nationally, the Consumer Price Index fell by 0.1% from May to June. It’s the first monthly dip since May 2020 – when the big worry was coronavirus, not the cost of living. June’s decline, plus a modest 3% US inflation rate during the past year, nudged some economists to claim that the worst bout of price problems in four decades may have been tamed. Well, I’m guessing those analysts must shop differently because Southern California stats suggest there’s some work left to do with inflation. And victory debate aside, no economic repair lauded today will erase the sting of what the surging cost of living of 2021-23 did to local household budgets. To understand how the local cost of living is moving, my trusty spreadsheet created a Southern California price benchmark – combining CPIs for Los Angeles/Orange County, the Inland Empire and San Diego. The focus was on 2024’s first-half inflation rates compared with the pain of the previous three years. And, yes, this math shows pricing progress. Southern California’s cost of all goods and services rose 3.5% in the

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Alec Baldwin ’s attorneys seek to portray him as a working actor just doing his job at the involuntary manslaughter trial in New Mexico over cinematographer Halyna Hutchins ‘ death on the “Rust” film set, as prosecutors try to cast him as a reckless cavalier with a gun in his hand. Cpl. Alexandria Hancock of the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office didn’t become the chief investigator until two weeks after the October 2021 shooting, but she conducted the first interviews of Baldwin, “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and assistant director David Halls, the three people criminally charged in the case. Hancock was on the stand briefly at the end of the day Thursday and will continue her direct examination by the prosecution Friday before undergoing what’s likely to be a long cross-examination by the defense as they look to poke holes in an investigation they have suggested unfairly focused on Baldwin. Before Hancock took the stand, Italian gunmaker Alessandro Pietta testified Thursday about quality control in the manufacturing process for the gun eventually acquired by an Albuquerque-based gun and ammunition supplier

The data of nearly all customers of the telecommunications giant AT&T was downloaded to a third-party platform in a security breach, the company said Friday, as cyberattacks against businesses, schools and health systems continue to spread globally. The breach, most of which took place over five months in 2022, hit customers of AT&T’s cellular customers, customers of mobile virtual network operators using AT&T’s wireless network, as well as its landline customers who interacted with those cellular numbers. Approximately 109 million customer accounts were impacted, according to AT&T, which said that it currently doesn’t believe that the data is publicly available. “The data does not contain the content of calls or texts, personal information such as Social Security numbers, dates of birth, or other personally identifiable information,” AT&T said Friday. The compromised data also doesn’t include some information typically seen in usage details, such as the time stamp of calls or texts, the company said, or customer names. AT&T, however, said that there are often ways using publicly available online tools to find the name associated with a specific telephone number. Cyber security experts concurred, saying

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — A traffic accident involving two vehicles has prompted several road closures in Chula Vista, authorities said. In a social media post at 6:15 a.m., the Chula Vista Police Department said Telegraph Canyon Road is closed between Heritage Road and Medical Center, as well as Paseo Ladera between Sesame Street and Givens Street. In an update at 8:23 a.m., police said one victim was transported to a local hospital with serious injuries. The department also confirmed that a 19-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. No further details were immediately released. The area is expected to be closed for several hours while officers investigate. Authorities are asking the public to avoid the area. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

CHULA VISTA, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) – Harborside Park on Chula Vista’s westside is set to reopen after being closed for nearly two years. “Doing good work so far, living up to that promise, and can’t wait to see it open again,” said Roberto Ramirez with Strong Base Jiu Jitsu. Preparations are underway at Harborside Park to reopen sometime this fall and community members are taking notice. Ramirez has been a strong advocate for bringing the park back to life. Upscale La Jolla restaurant earns Michelin Guide recommendation “The park is literally a couple steps from our business. We’ve always wanted to do some sort of event at a park,” said Ramirez. Currently, the land looks like a clean slate compared to August 2022. The park was shut down due to a spike in crime and homeless encampments.  Lacking a safe space for recreation in that part of town, residents repeatedly advocated for the city to save the park. Mayor John McCann joined them and eventually got full council support. “Activate the park with positive things for our children and Harborside and make sure we don’t

A shark that bit a swimmer in Del Mar last month, leaving the man hospitalized with significant wounds, was a juvenile white shark, likely around 9 feet long and 6 to 8 years old. That determination came from analyzing DNA left on a wetsuit worn by the swimmer on June 2, and bite marks on the fabric, said Chris Lowe, director of the Shark Lab at Cal State Long Beach. It is unknown why the shark bit 46-year-old Caleb Adams as he was swimming with a group about 100 yards offshore near Del Mar’s main lifeguard tower. Adams suffered wounds on his torso, left arm and hand during the Sunday morning swim on an overcast day when the water was murky. Fellow swimmers heard Adams screaming and used a surfboard to help him onto the beach, where lifeguards and others provided first aid, applying a tourniquet to stanch his bleeding before loading him into an ambulance. Adams told CBS 8 he was surprised how big the shark was and said he felt lucky to have survived. At one point, he punched the shark as it

San Diego County’s water world hasn’t had much good news lately, with looming budget problems and whopping rate increases. Well, here’s some: The state’s new mandatory water conservation plan won’t require big reductions locally. That’s due mostly to decades of spending on recycling, desalination, storage, conservation and imported supplies. Just four of the San Diego County Water Authority’s 23 member agencies face any cutbacks at all — and they have many years to reach their goals. The San Dieguito Water District faces the largest reduction of 6.9 percent. That’s followed by the Olivenhain Municipal Water District (6.4 percent), Carlsbad Municipal Water District (6 percent) and the Santa Fe Irrigation District (3.6 percent). There will be additional costs likely for all agencies because the sweeping plan includes detailed reporting and data-collection requirements. That may be more of a burden for smaller agencies than larger ones with more bureaucracy already in place, such as the city of San Diego. Big or small, any new costs won’t be welcome among the SDCWA umbrella group, which already is expected to consider raising rates on members by around 15 percent

By JOEY CAPPELLETTI, ZEKE MILLER and SEUNG MIN KIM WASHINGTON (AP) — Four years ago, candidate Joe Biden stood before supporters at a Detroit high school, flanked by Kamala Harris and other rising Democratic stars, and called himself a bridge to the next generation of leaders. Biden, now a president seeking reelection, returns to the city Friday with many in his party now pleading for him to fulfill that very promise and step aside. But Biden remains defiant that he’ll remain in the race despite a disastrous debate performance that triggered a wave of calls for him to end his candidacy. During a news conference on Thursday, when asked why he no longer considered himself a “bridge” to the next generation of leaders, Biden responded that “what changed was the gravity of the situation I inherited in terms of the economy, foreign policy, and domestic division.” “We’ve never been here before,” Biden continued. “And that’s the other reason why I didn’t, you say, hand off to another generation. I gotta finish the job.” In the two weeks since his debate debacle, Biden and his team

The data of nearly all customers of the telecommunications giant AT&T was downloaded to a third-party platform in a 2022 security breach, the company said Friday, in a year already rife with massive cyberattacks. The breach hit customers of AT&T’s cellular customers, customers of mobile virtual network operators using AT&T’s wireless network, as well as its landline customers interacted with those cellular numbers. A company investigation determined that compromised data includes files containing AT&T records of calls and texts between May 1, 2022 and Oct. 31, 2022. AT&T has more than 100 million customers in the U.S. and almost 2.5 million business accounts. The company said Friday that it has launched an investigation and engaged with cybersecurity experts to understand the nature and scope of the criminal activity. “The data does not contain the content of calls or texts, personal information such as Social Security numbers, dates of birth, or other personally identifiable information,” AT&T said Friday. The compromised data also doesn’t include some information typically seen in usage details, such as the time stamp of calls or texts, the company said. The data doesn’t

IMPERIAL BEACH, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) — One of the most unique YMCA locations is in Imperial Beach, located right on the beach. “Historically we’ve been able to teach all of our kids surfing. We don’t have to leave the property but it’s here on site,” said Kapili Pasa, waterfront manager with the YMCA. However, Pasa says in the last three years they’ve battled water quality issues with sewage water coming from Tijuana. “The water that is here in Imperial Beach is polluted, so we are not allowed to go into our water or have our kids surfing here on our site,” she said. In recent years, YMCA Camp Surf had to pivot, bussing hundreds of kids off site everyday to surf in Mission Beach and occasionally Coronado. But that area, is also dealing with some water quality issues as the pollution is making its way north. Pasa says the additional bussing has cost the YMCA an extra $100,000 in cost, and moving the surfing experience has caused a roughly 40% drop in enrollment. Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre says the federal government allocated millions of

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — San Diego will be playing host to the world over the next few weeks as Pride Week dovetails right into Comic-Con. The festivities are starting Saturday with hotels and restaurants in Hillcrest and downtown bracing for the crush of people.  “250,000 folks just watching the parade, 10,000 just in the parade,” said Jen Labarbera from Pride San Diego. It is the 50th anniversary of San Diego Pride, and it is expected to be as busy as it has ever been. And just as Pride ends on the 23rd Comic-Con picks up on the July 25 wielding the big news of major Hollywood studios reemerging at the con. This San Diego County freeway is one of the most dangerous in California, study says “When you bring Hollywood back into the equation, you really get a heightened experience,” said Micheal Trimble, from the Gaslamp Quarter Association. The 54th Comic-Con is expecting A-listers like Chris Hemsworth and Dave Bautista planning on making appearances. Trimble says downtown will be busier than ever. “We are looking to have hotels full. We know that the parties are going to be

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — A man was sentenced to three terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus 75 years to life, for the 2000 shooting and killing of three people, including a baby, prosecutors said. Sergio Contreras, 47, was found guilty in the shooting deaths of 27-year-old Michael Plummer, 18-year-old Adah Pearson and 22-month-old Julio Rangel, Jr., San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said in a news release Thursday. In September 2000, Contreras began to shoot into an apartment after one of the residents didn’t pay for a small amount of illegal drugs, according to prosecutors. This San Diego County freeway is one of the most dangerous in California, study says Contreras shot Plummer more than a dozen times, Pearson was shot in the heart while sleeping on the couch and another shot went through the wall and struck Rangel, Jr. in the head as he was asleep on a bed. Following the shooting, Contreras left the scene. The case went cold for several years until 2007 when murder chargers were filed as more witnesses came forward. Contreras, who was

San Diego police on Thursday released video footage of an officer fatally shooting a knife-wielding man during a confrontation in Bird Rock over the weekend. They also identified the man as 25-year-old Dejon Marques Heard, whose grandmother told the La Jolla Light that he has long grappled with mental health issues. “There were times he would have anxiety attacks … and he would get in his own head and would have his moments,” Susan Klat told the Light, a Union-Tribune community news publication. “It’s heartbreaking.” About 7 a.m. Saturday, people reported seeing a man holding a knife and shouting as he stood by a car parked in a traffic lane on La Jolla Boulevard near Midway Street. The 911 calls included one from a man who screamed, “Right here! Right now!” before the line disconnected. The footage police released comes from cameras worn by the two San Diego officers who arrived together in a patrol vehicle. The video shows the officers pull up and park in the northbound lane to find Heard standing next to the driver’s door of his parked car in the southbound

Sheriff Kelly A. Martinez announced a new jail-safety protocol Thursday intended to better protect people in her custody by subjecting sworn deputies, contractors and visitors to a screening system similar to those used at county courthouses. The effort was promoted as a way to boost security and help prevent drugs from being smuggled into county jails. But the new screening equipment is largely designed to detect metal objects such as guns and knives rather than dangerous narcotics. The magnetometers will be employed on a random and spot-check basis at unspecified jail facilities, Martinez said. Use of the technology may be expanded in coming budget years as the department adds additional screeners, she said. Deputies and other department employees and jail visitors will not be asked to undergo the more thorough scans that are used to examine people being booked into custody, with full body imaging that can see foreign objects internally. “We are not using the body scanners on people in this group,” Martinez said about jail workers and visitors. “They are not going through a body scanner.” The imaging scanners generally are used to

After nearly 30 years of an uncertain residency, the World Beat Cultural Center in Balboa Park is one step closer to a long-term lease agreement with the city of San Diego. A City Council panel unanimously voted 4-0 on Thursday to approve a 25-year lease between the city and Prophet World Beat Productions, the nonprofit that has operated out of the center since 1995. The organization has never had a long-term lease with the city but has instead remained in the space — a mural-covered former water tower next to the Centro Cultural de la Raza on Park Boulevard — through a holdover permit. Thirteen people spoke in favor of the new lease Thursday, highlighting the center’s cultural impact on San Diego. “I appreciate the perseverance that it’s taken, considering the decades that you’ve faced with challenges and obstacles in terms of operating,” said Councilmember Kent Lee, the chair of the Land Use and Housing Committee. “Few make it that long to begin with, and few become sort of a cornerstone of the community.” Now the agreement will head to the full City Council for

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Driving in California is already a challenge in itself with congested roadways and multiple-lane freeways. ConsumerAffairs, a customer review and consumer news platform, recently released a study revealing how deadly car crashes have been in the state in the last few years. In 2022, even with a decline in California’s population, deadly car crashes rose 17% compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2018. Interstate 5 in San Diego County placed No. 3 on ConsumerAffairs’ list of ten deadliest roads in the state with 21 deaths in 2022, two more deaths than in 2018, according to the study. Leonardo DiCaprio movie crew hiring background actors for San Diego scenes In 2022, speeding on I-5 in San Diego County caused seven of the deaths while drinking was a factor in two deaths, the report said. As a state, the study reported around 31% of deadly crashes were from speeding — up from 26% in 2018 — and driving under the influence was associated with 13% of the deaths — down from 24% in 2018. Although early estimates for 2023 show a decline in

A man convicted of opening fire into a Normal Heights apartment with a rifle nearly 25 years ago, killing a young couple and a sleeping toddler, was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In May, a San Diego Superior Court jury found Sergio Lopez Contreras, 45, guilty of murder in the three killings on Sept. 4, 2000. The victims were Michael Plummer, 27; Plummer’s girlfriend, Adah Pearson, 18; and Plummer’s nephew, Julio Rangel Jr., who was about 22 months old. Deputy District Attorney Chris Lindberg told jurors that Contreras fired 16 shots from a rifle while at the front door of the Bancroft Street apartment. Prosecutors alleged Plummer was the intended target of the shooting because he didn’t pay Contreras for about $30 worth of methamphetamine. Plummer was struck by a dozen bullets. Pearson was sleeping on the couch when she was shot. Another bullet pierced the wall behind her and struck the toddler, who was asleep in a bedroom with his parents and a sibling. Contreras was 22 at the time of the shooting. San Diego police alleged he