SAN DIEGO: An inmate who escaped Sunday night from a minimum-security area at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in Otay Mesa turned himself in yesterday at his sister's residence in San Diego, authorities said.
Manuel Casillas, 24, surrendered to an agent from the Office of Correctional Safety about 2 p.m., said Lt. Michael Stout, a prison spokesman.
Casillas was convicted in June 2006 of second-degree burglary and was scheduled to be paroled Oct. 25.
Media exposure about the escape “is believed to be the determining factor in his decision to surrender,” Warden Robert Hernandez said.
Prison officials said Casillas escaped between 6 and 9:30 p.m. Sunday.
The prison houses about 4,700 minimum-, medium-and maximum-security inmates.
Stout said minimum-security inmates are housed on the west side of the prison behind a 6-foot fence. That area is outside an electrified fence and razor wire that circles housing areas with higher-risk inmates, he said.– M.A. & S.S.
Westview High again
is struck by vandalism
RANCHO PENASQUITOS: Vandals struck at Westview High School over the weekend, leaving a scrawled racial epithet and profanity scratched into a window, broken windows, and feces and urine in the hallway of a science building.
Principal Dawn Kastner alerted parents to the incident with e-mails Saturday, describing what happened as a “cowardly and deplorable act.” The Poway Unified School District has offered a $1,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest of the vandals.
The school near Rancho Peñasquitos, which has an open campus, has been the target of two previous graffiti incidents, in March 2008 and December 2007, both involving swastikas.
There was no evidence the vandals were students, but teachers were asked to review anti-hate policies in classrooms. Kastner said “the students I've talked to have been mad” about the damage to the campus and school image. The school is preparing to install surveillance equipment to deter additional vandalism.
The latest damage, which occurred Friday night, was cleaned up before students arrived Monday, the beginning of the second week of the new school year.
Anyone with information on the crime is asked to call San Diego police at (619) 531-2000 or the district's Safe Schools hotline at (858) 668-4161. –J.R.
Electrical problem sparks
Granite Hills house fire
EAST COUNTY: An electrical problem in a garage sparked a two-alarm fire that destroyed most of a Granite Hills house yesterday, authorities said.
Investigators determined the cause of the blaze that broke out about 4:30 p.m. on Euclid Avenue near Valley View Boulevard, in an unincorporated area east of El Cajon, sheriff's Lt. Anthony Ray said.
A tall column of black smoke could be seen from El Cajon valley as flames raced through the two-story wood house with a shake roof, said Leonard Villarreal, a spokesman for the San Miguel Consolidated Fire Protection District.
Some neighbors reported the blaze started in the garage, while others saw it engulfing the second floor, Villarreal said. A sheriff's official said a propane tank explosion was heard.
The second alarm drew about 40 firefighters from El Cajon, Santee, Lakeside, San Miguel fire district and Cal Fire. They doused most of the flames by 5 p.m.
Damage was estimated at $500,000. Villarreal said firefighters pushed an expensive ski boat out of harm's way, but a pickup in the driveway was damaged. No injuries were reported. It wasn't clear if anyone was living in the home at the time, but no one was there when the fire broke out, Ray said. –P.R.
Sailor dies of his injuries
from weekend hit and run
CHULA VISTA: A 22-year-old Navy man who was struck by a hit-and-run driver in Chula Vista early Saturday has died, the Medical Examiner's Office said.
The name of the sailor, who lived in Chula Vista, was not released, pending notification of relatives. He died about 1:15 p.m. Monday at UCSD Medical Center.
A Chula Vista police sergeant saw a car hit a pedestrian on Broadway at McIntosh Street about 1:20 a.m. Saturday. Police stopped the driver a short distance away and arrested Claudia Lopez, 22, of National City, on suspicion of felony hit and run, felony driving under the influence and driving on a suspended license, police said. –P.R.
Man accused in slaying
could face death penalty
EAST COUNTY COURTS: An El Cajon man accused of shooting his estranged wife to death on Christmas Eve 2007 could face the death penalty under amended charges filed yesterday in El Cajon Superior Court.
Mychal Reed, 45, is charged with murder and violating a court-ordered restraining order in the slaying of Rosa Elena Reed, 44, outside a North Mollison Avenue apartment complex.
Deputy District Attorney C.J. Mody added a special circumstance allegation of lying in wait, which opens Reed to the possibility of facing execution if he is tried and convicted.
Rosa Reed was shot eight times as she sat in her car about 5:50 p.m. Dec. 24, 2007. Mychal Reed was found nearby with a gun in his pocket, police said.
Mody said a decision on whether to seek the death penalty will be made after a hearing Sept. 29 to determine if there is enough evidence for a trial. –R.H.
Hearing for S.D. officer
in shooting is delayed
NORTH COUNTY COURTS: A preliminary hearing for a police officer charged with shooting a woman and her son in Oceanside in March has been delayed until November so both sides can have more time to review the evidence.
The evidence includes 3,000 pages of documents and 131 CDs and DVDs, said Rick Pinckard, an attorney for San Diego police Officer Frank White.
“The investigation that was conducted by the Oceanside Police Department was probably one of the most thorough investigations that I've ever reviewed,” Pinckard said after a hearing in Vista Superior Court yesterday.
White, 28, has pleaded not guilty to grossly negligent discharge of a firearm, a felony, and a misdemeanor count of exhibiting a firearm. He faces up to nine years in prison. He has been put on unpaid leave by his department.
Silva has pleaded not guilty to felony child endangerment and five misdemeanor charges related to the apparent road rage incident.
“Frank and his wife didn't initiate this contact,” Pinckard said. “They were trying to get away from this woman.”
Pinckard said he hasn't discussed a settlement with prosecutors. –M.R.
Staff writers Mark Arner, Susan Shroder, Jeff Ristine, Pauline Repard, Ray Huard and Matthew Rodriguez contributed to this report.
