Today’s newsletter is presented by Port of San Diego Waterfront of Opportunity.
Happy Halloween, San Diego 🎃
Here’s what we have for you today:
- The San Diego Society of Professional Journalists has officially launched the Kelly Davis Prize for Courage and Compassion in Journalism. Please consider donating to the fund for the award in honor of Davis, an incredible journalist and friend who died this year after a years-long battle with cancer.
- A Japanese food truck, Square Pizza and a new spot in Seaport Village: check out our latest food and drink blotter.
Andrew Keatts
General manager and editor
Top story
‘Mistakes happen’ — Legal claims allege false ALPR identification led to police shooting
A 19-year-old San Diego man alleges that he was driving to work in his boss’ car when an automated license plate reader identified the car as stolen.
Within five minutes, an SDPD officer approached the car head on, told the driver and passenger to put their hands up, then fired his service weapon into the passenger-side window, according to two legal claims and surveillance footage, as our Dorian Hargrove and Tessa Balc report. The bullet hit the man, Jorge Luis Soto, in his left shoulder.
The man’s boss says he never reported the car stollen, and his employee was in lawful possession of it at the time of the police stop and subsequent shooting.
An SDPD spokesperson said the stolen vehicle alert that matched with the car originated with the FBI’s National Crime Information Center.
Soto, in a tort claim that is a precursor to a lawsuit, says Officer Ricardo Zambrano violated department policy by firing into the car, and violated his civil rights by shooting him without cause.
In his legal claim, Soto said he was handcuffed to a hospital bed for 10 hours.
“[Soto] asked SDPD officers multiple times why he had been shot and received no answer, though at one point, with two officers in the room, one told him, ‘mistakes happen,’” the claim reads.
Times of San Diego thanks our corporate sponsors. Find out more about sponsorships and advertising opportunities here.
Stories you should know about
💬 We’ve got point and counterpoint op-eds on the proposed deal for Midway Rising : Labor leader Carol Kim says the Midway District needs help, and it’s time to get moving. Community activist Scott Chipman says we’re sacrificing a neighborhood’s future for a developer’s vision.
🚧 Workers shift to ‘shovels instead of spreadsheets’ after challenge of making new affordable housing in San Diego pencil out : The first use of sustainable mass timber in an affordable housing project in San Diego is here.
🚨 District attorney enters border pollution fray, seeks records regarding potential producers of hazardous waste: The county’s top prosecutors wants to go after Mexican industrial businesses for potentially contributing to cross-border pollution.
What else we’re reading
📸 San Diego Superior Court for months avoided complying with a new state law allowing photographs to be taken of court records so court users could avoid costly copying fees. Then a local reporter caught them. (KPBS)
📝 The bizarre case of a former UC San Diego student accused of attacking twin babies in Pittsburgh came to a close when the defendant, Nicole Virzi, entered a guilty plea in the abuse case. One of the six-week-old babies died. (L.A. Times)
Times of San Diego thanks our corporate sponsors. Find out more about sponsorships and advertising opportunities here.
What to do this weekend 🦇
Need weekend plans? We’ve got you. ⭐ = free
💀 Old Town’s Día de los Muertos festivities (Today through Monday) ⭐️
🐦⬛ Spooky Shakespeare, SDMA (Today, 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.)
🌼 Chula Vista’s Día de los Muertos celebration (Sunday, 3 p.m.–7:30 p.m.) ⭐️