Vista
The condition of a San Diego County sheriff’s deputy injured Friday in a shoot-out with a suspect in Vista has been upgraded from critical to serious. Deputy Dean M. Mesa, 27, remained in the intensive care unit at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla on Monday after surgery to remove remaining fragments of a bullet lodged in his lower back, hospital spokeswoman Diane Yohe said.
Mesa was shot in the abdomen with his own service revolver Friday afternoon by David Chavez, 39, of Paradise Valley, according to Lt. Bill Baxter of the sheriff’s homicide division.
At the time of the shooting, Mesa and his partner, reserve Deputy Fred Mann, were attempting to arrest Chavez and Michael Peters, 37, on suspicion of possession of narcotics in the parking lot of El Sombrero Cafe on South Santa Fe Avenue. Chavez tried to flee after shooting Mesa, but was shot and killed by Mann.
Peters was subsequently arrested on suspicion of possession of narcotics, resisting arrest and violating parole. He is being held without bail at the County Jail in Vista.
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