NORTH COUNTY COURTSNORTH COUNTY COURTS—
COURT WATCH
The woman accused of taking items from the huge Encinitas house she lost to foreclosure remained in jail yesterday after a court appearance in which she refused to identify herself and the judge ordered her to be taken into custody.
Suzy Brown, 45, is charged with felony theft and vandalism after a bank property agent reported $1 million in fixtures missing from the 16,000-square-foot mansion in the Olivenhain community.
In a Nov. 10 interview, Brown admitted that she took the items but said it was to protect her masterpiece after the bank refused to hire security. She said she has since returned everything.
Brown appeared in Vista Superior Court on Tuesday and pleaded not guilty.
Before entering a plea, Brown refused to confirm who she is, leading Judge Marshall Hockett to order her handcuffed and jailed. Brown also wanted to challenge the “charging documents,” saying they are inadequate, said Deputy District Attorney Robert Eacret.
Hockett used a DMV photo to identify Brown as the defendant. He appointed Deputy Public Defender William Matthews to represent her, then set bail at $30,000.
The house cost $13 million to build and furnish. Brown’s original plan to operate it as a drug-rehabilitation center met with neighborhood opposition. Capital One foreclosed on the house Feb. 13, after Brown had not made payments for more than a year. She moved out March 22.
Tanya Mannes
CRIME WATCH
Government lawyer dies day after ambush
TIJUANA: A 30-year-old attorney assigned to the Baja California anti-kidnapping squad in Tijuana died late yesterday after an ambush by gunmen, the Baja California Attorney General’s Office said.
Jose Luis Vasquez Cervantes was driving an official vehicle on a major thoroughfare shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday when gunmen in a nearby vehicle opened fire. Vasquez lost control of his vehicle and plunged down an embankment.
The exact cause of death has not been determined.
Sandra Dibble
Advanced border tunnel uncovered; 12 arrested
A cross-border tunnel equipped with an elevator and lighting and electrical systems was discovered yesterday just west of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry, federal authorities said.
Acting on a tip received by U.S. officials, Mexican authorities found the tunnel and arrested at least 12 people inside, authorities said.
The tunnel, which did not yet have an opening on the U.S. side, was about 1,000 feet long, 860 feet of which were in the United States. It was about 90 to 100 feet deep in some areas.
No arrests have been made in the United States. Officials estimate that the tunnel may have been under construction for about two years.
Jose Luis Jimenez
Gunmen invade home, flee with TV, computer
SAN DIEGO: Armed robbers stormed into a Pacific Beach home early yesterday and held the residents at gunpoint before stealing property and fleeing.
Four men, one with a shotgun and two with handguns, broke into the home on Hornblend Street near Ingraham Street at 2:05 a.m., San Diego police said.
The robbers took a large television, a laptop computer, a wallet and a cell phone and left, police said.
Debbi Baker
Robber with note strikes again at credit union
IMPERIAL BEACH: A man believed to have robbed a North Island Credit Union in Imperial Beach last month struck again yesterday, the FBI said.
The man entered the bank, on Palm Avenue, about 10 a.m. and presented a demand note to two tellers. He asked for cash and claimed to have a weapon. The robber then ordered the tellers to place the money in two blue merchant deposit bags that he brought with him.
The man is believed to have robbed the same bank Nov. 6. He is described as Latino, in his early 30s and about 5 feet 8 inches tall, with a medium build, dark hair and a mustache or unshaven face. He was wearing a navy- blue or black baseball cap with a silver logo; a dark, long-sleeved shirt; and jeans.
Anyone with information is asked to call the FBI at (858) 565-1255 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477 or sdcrimestoppers.com.
Kristina Davis
FIRE WATCH
Officer rescues woman from mobile-home fire
LAKESIDE: An off-duty California Highway Patrol officer pulled an injured woman to safety early yesterday before her mobile home went up in flames.
CHP Officer Don Coney was heading to work shortly after 6:30 a.m. when he saw a fire at the Willowbrook Mobile Home Park on Riverside Drive. As he pulled up to the burning building, he saw an elderly woman on the porch.
Coney picked up the woman and pulled her away from the fire, suffering minor burns as he made the rescue, said Lakeside Fire Protection District Chief Mark Baker.
“If it hadn’t been for him, she would have sustained further injuries if not fatal injuries,” Baker said. “She just barely made it outside onto the porch and collapsed.”
The woman told firefighters that she lighted a cigarette as she was hooked up to oxygen and accidentally started the fire, Baker said.
More than 30 firefighters from Lakeside and the Santee Fire Department responded to the blaze, which destroyed the double-wide mobile home. Baker said the damage exceeded $100,000.
Coney suffered minor burns and respiratory injuries and was taken to a hospital. The homeowner was seriously injured in the fire, Baker said.
The fire was contained about 6:50 a.m. and no other structures burned, he said.
Karen Kucher
