ESCONDIDO: The family of a 71-year-old Alzheimer's patient who has been missing since she wandered from her home in late August is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to her return.
Sheila Ann Lopes was last seen about midnight Aug. 28 at the house on Woodland Heights Glen in Emerald Heights where she lives with her husband, Frank, said her son-in-law Paul Menth.
Despite an extensive search that included Escondido police, the Sheriff's Department and hundreds of volunteers, no trace of Lopes has been found.
Emerald Heights is a gated community of 700 homes with 24-hour security and video cameras at the gates, but there is no evidence that Lopes ever passed through, Menth said.
The family believes that Lopes, who has been suffering from Alzheimer's disease for six years, got up, dressed and went outside to smoke a cigarette the night she went missing, Menth said.
Lopes is white, about 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 135 pounds, with gray shoulder-length hair. She was wearing a teal-green, long-sleeved shirt and teal-green pants with white canvas deck shoes.
Escondido police Lt. Chris Wynn said the department has no evidence of foul play. He said detectives still get calls about possible leads.
Anyone with information is asked to call Escondido police at (760) 839-4722 or an anonymous tip line at (760) 743-8477. –D.B.
Woman dies after her car
and pickup truck collide
ESCONDIDO:A woman died yesterday fri shortly after her small car collided with pickup at El Norte Parkway and Vista Verde Way, Escondido police said.
The woman's name was withheld until her family could be notified. Police did not give her age. Investigators said the woman was driving a Volkswagen Beetle south on Vista Verde Way about 4 p.m. when she collided with the westbound pickup in the intersection at El Norte Parkway.
The woman suffered major injuries and was unconscious when she was taken to Palomar Medical Center. She died at the hospital about 6 p.m., Escondido police Lt. Mike Loarie said. The pickup driver, from Escondido, was not taken to a hospital, but his passenger, a Valley Center woman, was hospitalized with minor injuries. –P.R.
Driver crashes into house
in trying to avoid collision
SAN DIEGO: A motorist crashed into the front door of a house in City Heights yesterday afternoon, fri apparently trying to avoid two other vehicles that had collided, San Diego police said. No one was injured.
The driver who struck the house on 52nd Street north of University Avenue grabbed his child from his SUV and ran. Neighbors saw him and told police, who caught him two blocks away, carrying the child, police spokeswoman Mónica Muñoz said.
Muñoz said the man told officers he ran because he is here illegally from Mexico. He was turned over to the Border Patrol. The initial collision on the street was between a car and a tow truck about 3:40 p.m., Muñoz said. She said it appeared that the SUV driver swerved off the road to avoid them.
The SUV tore across the front yard of one house and crashed into the front door. A resident in the house said he heard the first impact and was heading toward his door to look out when the SUV struck it.
–P.R.
Sketch of police impostor in robbery attempt posted
VISTA: Sheriff's investigators released a sketch yesterday of an armed man who impersonated a law enforcement officer in a home-invasion robbery attempt Monday on Vista Glen Lane.
The impostor handcuffed both residents and sprayed one of them with Mace, a Sheriff's Department spokesman said.
The man pretended to talk into a radio of some sort, though he didn't appear to have one, the victims said. He was wearing a dark law enforcement or military-style vest with a holster, a Mace holder and a handcuff case.
The victims told deputies that the man appeared very nervous, and he left behind the handcuffs and a zip tie. They said he did not take anything, and they didn't see a vehicle.
He was described as Samoan, Asian or Latino, in his early 20s, about 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing 180 pounds. He had a shaved head and was very muscular with large biceps, a round face and a short neck.
Besides the vest, he was seen wearing a short-sleeved white polo shirt with an emblem of a yellow star with ropes around it, dark pants and black boots or tennis shoes. He had a silver or black handgun, similar to a 9mm Beretta.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477. –D.B.
1 hurt when gunman fires
into crowd near nightclub
MISSION VALLEY: A gunman fired into a crowd outside a Mission Valley nightclub early yesterday, San Diego police Sgt. Diane Wendell said.
Two groups of people got into a disagreement inside Club Rio on Camino Del Rio South just before 2 a.m. and continued the argument outside, Wendell said.
A man described as Latino, between 21 and 24 years old, 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing about 170 pounds, pulled out a gun and fired into a group that included four to five women, the sergeant said.
A man was struck in the wrist, treated at a hospital and released, Wendell said.
This is the second shooting at the club in less than three weeks. A 25-year-old man was shot in the leg and groin Sept. 15. –D.B.
Migrant worker walking
to store shot in shoulder
EL CAJON: A migrant worker was shot in the shoulder while walking in unincorporated El Cajon on Thursday evening, authorities said.
The man told detectives that he was on Chase Terrace near Chase Avenue headed for a 7-Eleven about 5:30 p.m. when he heard a gunshot, sheriff's officials said.
He then realized he'd been shot. He was hospitalized and is expected to recover. The man told detectives he had no idea where the shot came from. –K.D.
2 threaten mobile home
resident and his caregiver
SAN MARCOS: A mobile home park resident and his caregiver were threatened at gunpoint by two men who rummaged through the home Thursday night, a sheriff's official said.
The 50-year-old resident told deputies he was confronted in the driveway of his San Marcos mobile home, on South Rancho Santa Fe Drive near Descanso Avenue, by a man with a revolver.
He was ordered inside and told, along with his 53-year-old female caregiver, to lie facedown across a bed, sheriff's Sgt. Bob Jennings said. An accomplice joined the gunman, and they took cash, a wallet, jewelry and medications.
As soon as they left, the resident got up, locked his front door and called 911 shortly after 9 p.m. The victims were not bound, Jennings said.
One robber was described as black, 5 feet 8 inches tall, with short hair, a mustache and scruffy beard, and wearing a black T-shirt and baggy jeans. His companion was black, 5 feet 11 inches tall, heavyset and wearing a ski mask over his face, a black jacket and baggy pants. –P.R.
Man, 33, beaten; his car
is stolen, then set on fire
SAN DIEGO: A man was beaten and carjacked in Logan Heights on Thursday night by five men who then set fire to his car in City Heights, San Diego police said.
The victim, 33, was approached by the men as he got out of his 1970 Chevrolet Impala on Clay Avenue near 31st Street. The men issued a gang challenge, beat him up, and took his wallet, keys and cell phone, police Sgt. Rich Nemetz said.
The men drove away in the Impala. Police were called about 8:50 p.m., and paramedics took the victim to a hospital. He suffered a broken eye socket and bruises. About 20 minutes later, the Impala was found on fire in an alley off 37th Street near Polk Avenue. Gang-unit officers were investigating. –D.B.
U.S. border agent hears
charges in bribery case
FEDERAL COURT: A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer accused of accepting bribes to allow cocaine and heroin to be smuggled into the country at the Calexico Port of Entry was arraigned yesterday in federal court.
Jesus Velasco Esparza, 22, of El Centro, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Peter C. Lewis in El Centro, the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Diego said.
Esparza was arrested Thursday in Imperial County following an investigation by the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.
He is accused of bribery; attempting to aid and abet importation of controlled substances; and computer fraud for looking up license plate numbers of vehicles suspected of being used to smuggle drugs into the United States, according to a federal complaint filed Thursday.
According to the complaint, the investigation began in August with the assistance of a confidential FBI source.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Forge said yesterday that Esparza was paid $500 for each license plate he ran through CBP computers, and from $7,600 to $13,400 to allow drugs to be smuggled through the port.
Esparza is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday for a detention hearing. –S.S.
Staff writers Debbi Baker, Pauline Repard, Kristina Davis and Susan Shroder contributed to this report.
