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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2019
Online drug dealer gets 15 years in La Jolla death
THIS WEEK
By Neal Putnam | LA JOLLA VILLAGE NEWS
Cat Lounge Rescue and Adoption Center opens in La Jolla SEE PAGE 5
A wrongful death lawsuit filed against the city contends that the La Jolla Cove needs more lifeguards and DON BALCH / VILLAGE NEWS better locations for its towers.
Lawsuit filed against city after La Jolla Cove death By Dave Schwab | LA JOLLA VILLAGE NEWS
Dia de los Muertos returns to San Diego SEE PAGE 10
The legendary Zandra Rhodes signs books at Warwick’s SEE PAGE 11
The family of a snorkeler has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city over a man who died 10 months after injuries he allegedly suffered in an accident during a July 2017 La Jolla Cove swim. Filed by Hamidreza Akbarzadegan, son of the late Morteza Akbarzadegan, the lawsuit contends the city should hire more lifeguards and improve the location of its towers and warning signs in dangerous La Jolla beach areas obscured by rock formations and other obstacles. The lawsuit contends that lifeguards and towers, as presently construed at the cove, impart a false sense of security to ocean users by implying continuous surveillance at the cove is a reality. “This death was a tragedy, but under the law, San Diego taxpayers cannot be not held responsible,” responded City Attorney Mara W. Elliott. Additionally, the suit charges that swimmers in trouble need to be responded to more promptly, and that warning signs should be posted at the cove where lifeguards’ vision from towers is obscured. The suit also blames lifeguards for not having a functional defibrillator, while alleging that lifeguards, not bystanders, should have administered medical aid to Akbarzadegan.
Akbarzadegan was snorkeling at the cove in high waves that had prompted lifeguards, earlier in the day, to order people out of the water until it was deemed safe. Akbarzadegan returned to the ocean to snorkel, only to go missing about 10 minutes later. In the lawsuit, his son claims he and his mother tried waving to lifeguards, but failed to get their attention because guard’s views were blocked by the beach’s geography. San Diego lifeguard and former union steward Ed Harris, representing the union, noted he has personal experience with the area at the cove where the tragic snorkeling accident happened. “I worked up there on the rocks from 2008 to 2015,” said Harris. “As everybody knows, the usage of all beach areas in the last 10 years has grown exponentially.” Added Harris, “While I can’t quote on this case because I wasn’t there, we [lifeguards] are in need of more staffing. In the last two years, during budget meetings, we [lifeguards] never make it onto the San Diego Fire Department’s list of priorities.” “Another person was added there in front of the cove this July,” continued Harris. “That doesn’t get us to where we need to be. But every person helps us provide better coverage.”
Fifteen years in federal prison was handed down Oct. 16 to an online drug dealer who sold counterfeit oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl to a La Jolla man who died in an overdose. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Deshong asked for a 20year sentence for Trevor Antone Lucas, 23, in the June 29, 2018, death of Craig Sheehan, 37, who was found dead on the floor by his mother. The prosecutor mentioned she was in the courtroom audience. Deshong told U.S. District Court Judge Cathy Bencivengo that Lucas advertised online, which is how Sheehan contacted him. Court records say he was driven to a condominium on Torrey Pines Road to sell Sheehan the phony oxycodone. “I’m sure Trevor would do anything to bring him back, but it is not possible,” said his attorney, Keith Rutman. “He tried to do his best to make it right.” Rutman criticized pharmaceutical companies for “getting people addicted to these drugs.” He recommended a 15-year term for Lucas, saying it was “a long time.” Wearing an orange jumpsuit, Lucas told the judge, “This mistake is not who I am.” He asked her for “a second chance” and noted, “I struggle to forgive myself.” Lucas, who has been in the Metropolitan Correctional Facility since his arrest a year ago, said time in prison has allowed for “so much time to grow” in his thinking. He apologized to everyone who was affected by Sheehan’s death. Read more online at sdnews.com.