Driver sought in reported hit-and-run at restaurant

San Diego Union Tribune – San Diego,CA,USA
NORTH COUNTY: Robbers with pistols took cash and alcohol from markets in
Carlsbad and Encinitas yesterday, authorities said. A masked man in
dark clothes, …

EL CAJON: Police were looking for a motorist suspected of intentionally hitting and seriously injuring a woman early yesterday in a restaurant parking lot and then driving away.

The motorist was being sought on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, said El Cajon police Lt. Fenton Sue.

The incident was reported at 5:20 a.m. in a rear parking lot at the Boll Weevil on North Second Street near Madison Avenue, Sue said.

The victim, who is thought to be in her 40s, was hospitalized yesterday in serious condition. Witnesses described the car as a small white compact, Sue said. Police did not describe the suspect.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at (619) 579-3311.

Masked gunmen take cash, booze at markets

NORTH COUNTY: Robbers with pistols took cash and alcohol from markets in Carlsbad and Encinitas yesterday, authorities said.

A masked man in dark clothes, possibly Latino, held up Fiesta Liquor on State Street in Carlsbad about 4:50 p.m., Carlsbad police said He took a few thousand dollars plus cigarettes, lighters and alcohol and escaped in a rust-brown Chevrolet sedan.

In Encinitas, an employee at Coast Highway Market on North Coast Highway 101 called the Sheriff’s Department at 5:09 p.m. to report a holdup.

A masked man in a black, hooded sweat shirt escaped with $4,000 and alcohol, sheriff’s officials said.

Burglar gets away by driving against traffic

LA MESA: A bike-shop burglar eluded police early yesterday by driving the wrong way on Interstate 8 with headlights off, police said.

A witness reported that Performance Bicycle was being burglarized at 12:20 a.m., La Mesa police Lt. Carlos Madero said.

Officers saw the burglar speed away from the shop, get onto westbound I-8 at Fletcher Parkway, then pull a U-turn and head east in the westbound lanes. Officers followed in eastbound lanes, but lost him near Main Street in El Cajon.

Madero said a large number of bicycle parts were stolen.

S.D. man dies after being detained by CHP officers

TEMECULA: Riverside authorities are investigating the death of a San Diego man who was detained Saturday by California Highway Patrol officers on Interstate 15, officials said.

Mario Alberto Garay, 26, died at a hospital in Murrieta about an hour after he became unresponsive while being detained on the side of the freeway at the Rancho California Road off-ramp, the Riverside County Coroner’s Office said.

Officials are waiting for toxicology results to determine the cause of death. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department is investigating.

Flames quickly put out atop Gaslamp building

DOWNTOWN SAN DIEGO: A fire broke out at the top of the Steele Building Lofts in the Gaslamp Quarter yesterday, prompting a response from five companies of firefighters.

The fire was reported about 10:40 a.m.

Fire crews arrived quickly and saw flames coming from a 12-by-12-foot stairwell enclosure of shingles and wood.

The enclosure covered the entry to the roof deck, said San Diego Fire-Rescue Department spokesman Maurice Luque.

Firefighters had to break open the door and go through flames before they put out the blaze, Luque said.

Flames started to spread to some wood decking and wooden lawn chairs nearby, but did not burn through the roof.

Firefighters had the blaze out within minutes, Luque said.

A handful of people were evacuated from the four-story building, which has 28 lofts. Most residents were not home when the fire broke out, Luque said.

Visions Restaurant and Lounge, which occupies the first floor, was closed at the time.

The cause of the fire, which caused $15,000 damage to the building, has not been determined.

Man crossing highway hit and killed by truck

JAMUL: A man trying to cross state Route 94 near Honey Springs Road was struck by a pickup and killed yesterday,authorities said.

The man was hit about 6 a.m. by a Chevy truck driven by a 43-year-old man from Jamul.

The driver told authorities that the pedestrian had crossed in front of his truck and that he was unable to avoid hitting him, said California Highway Patrol Officer Brian Pennings.

The identity of the victim, a Latino in his 30s, was not known, Pennings said. Officials believe he might have been an illegal immigrant.

A CHP officer at the scene said a group of men had been crossing the road and that the last person trying to make it across was hit by the pickup.