The 4/5/11 San Diego Union Tribune reported on the events of the previous day: (
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"CHULA VISTA — A gunbattle between a security guard and burglars at a Chula Vista Apple Store ended when one of the suspects died in a getaway car and two others were found hiding on the patio of a nearby home Monday morning.
Police said several rounds were exchanged during the shootout at the Otay Ranch Town Center between the store’s security guard, who is a retired law enforcement officer, and the suspects.
Police identified the two arrested as Johnny Chenda, 25, of San Diego, and Melissa Ortiz, 21, of Menifee. The identity of the man killed in the shootout had not been confirmed.
It was unknown who opened fire first, but investigators said at least one of the burglars pulled a gun on the guard during the robbery.
“He was taking rounds,” police Capt. Gary Ficacci said. “He had a right to protect himself.”
The guard, Jose Jimenez, 58, works for Security Industry Specialists of Culver City, police said. Authorities would not name the law enforcement agency where he had previously worked.
Police were called to the store at the shopping center on Birch Road around 6:45 a.m., Ficacci said.
The store manager and Jimenez, who was not in uniform, were inside the store when two men and a woman smashed the front glass doors and came inside, Ficacci said.
“It’s clear from the (surveillance) video that one of the suspects almost immediately upon breaking into the store pulls out a pistol and starts shooting,” he said.
A gun battle ensued and moved into the parking lot.
The men and the woman got into a silver Acura car that they had arrived in and started to drive away. The car crashed into a light pole a short distance away in the mall parking lot. The driver was shot and suffered apparent fatal head injuries, although it was unknown if they were from a gunshot or the crash, Ficacci said. Several bullet holes riddled the car, and the driver’s side window was smashed by gunfire or the crash, he said.
Chenda and Ortiz allegedly got out of the car and ran east across Eastlake Parkway into the Windingwalk housing development.
Officers with search dogs, aided by U.S. Border Patrol agents, California Highway Patrol officers and a sheriff’s helicopter, scoured the area. All nearby schools were placed on lock down, and residents were asked to stay inside their homes and lock the doors.
The pair was found about 8 a.m. hiding on a patio at a home near Morning Dew Court and Sand Drive.
“I really think they didn’t know where they were,” Ficacci said.
Chenda was treated at a hospital for minor injuries possibly suffered in the collision and then was jailed, Ficacci said. He was arrested on suspicion of armed robbery, conspiracy and commercial burglary. Ortiz faces possible charges of conspiracy and commercial burglary.
Janae Sergio, who lives in the neighborhood, said she awoke to the sound of the helicopter circling above. She watched the woman being arrested across the street from her home. The incident scared her, she said, and when it was over she thanked the officers for keeping her neighborhood safe.
The eastern portion of the mall and the stores surrounding the Apple Store were closed for most of the day. Ficacci said casings from the security guard’s gun and at least one other weapon were found at the mall.
A small handgun was found on the dead man, and another was found on Chenda, Ficacci said. Investigators were still working to determine the number of rounds fired.
Jimenez and the store manager were not injured in the incident, police said.
Police said that the Apple Store had been burglarized at least twice before. Requests for comment left with officials at Apple and the mall were not returned.
County statistics for the area show police have taken reports for crimes that typically occur around shopping malls — mostly thefts and vehicle break-ins. Over the past year, four commercial burglaries and six robberies were reported within a quarter-mile of the mall, according to data collected by the San Diego Association of Governments. The mall opened in 2006.
Investigators and the District Attorney’s Office will decide whether Jimenez was justified in firing at the suspects, the same as with shootings involving civilians and police.
State law says that licensed armed security guards cannot draw a weapon without “proper cause” or provoke a shooting without valid cause.
Any use of a deadly weapon by a security guard must be reported to the guard’s employer within 24 hours, and the security company has seven days to submit a detailed report to the state Bureau of Security and Investigative Services. The agency will determine if administrative action should be taken against the guard’s licenses and firearms permit.
Ficacci said it was not unusual for a security guard to be armed, although one security expert said very few are these days.
Roughly 4,000 San Diego County security guards and private investigators are permitted to carry firearms while on duty, said Kimberly Brown, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Consumer Affairs. More than 22,600 security guards and 700 private investigators hold licenses in the county.
Many property owners don’t want to deal with liability issues of arming security guards, many of whom have minimal training, said Terry Degelder of Off Duty Officers, a San Diego-based security company that primarily uses law enforcement officers.
“When you have someone with a gun, you really have to be careful he is properly trained,” Degelder said. “Even if the guard did the right thing but had lousy training, they’d still be able to sue.”
Security guards must complete 40 hours of training to become licensed and take an eight-hour refresher course each year. Fourteen hours of additional training, among other requirements, is needed for a firearms permit, according to state law.
Retired or off-duty law enforcement officers are often considered to be better equipped to carry firearms because they have thousands of hours of training and real-world experience, Degelder said.
Shootings involving security guards are unusual, but not unheard of. In 2009, an armed guard patrolling the Vista Transit Center shot and killed a man during a struggle. A year earlier, a guard fatally shot an unarmed man who attacked him behind an Encinitas shopping center. The District Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute either guard, saying the shootings were justified.
debbi.baker@uniontrib.com • (619) 293-1710 • Twitter@debbi_baker
kristina.davis@uniontrib.com • (619) 542-4591 • Twitter @kristinadavis"