Police Try to Dispel Raid Rumors : Slain Man’s Home Is Described as a Known Drug House

The home of a Southeast San Diego man who was slain by police in his living room last weekend is a known drug house where a police informant has seen narcotics, particularly rock cocaine, being processed and sold during the past two months, senior police officers said Wednesday.

In an attempt to clear rumors that “police hit the wrong house,” the top police hierarchy held an afternoon press conference to describe in detail the events surrounding the shooting of Tommie C. Dubose.

They said they learned in January through an informant that there was considerable drug traffic in and out of the home near 50th Street and Federal Boulevard. Neighbors had told them the drug activity primarily occurred during the day when Dubose was away at work, and police said they have no information linking Dubose to drug sales.

They said that based on their information, they served a search warrant on the home Saturday night, but they found only a small quantity of drug paraphernalia.

They said Dubose, 56, was shot after he began to run into a back bedroom, where police found a shotgun, two rifles, a revolver and a large amount of ammunition. Those weapons were packed away and unloaded, police said, adding that it has not been determined who owned them.

Assistant Chief Bob Burgreen said he was providing the details to clear the air after accusations that police acted improperly in entering the Dubose home. He said the officers at the scene actually were in danger themselves, particularly when Dubose first made a move toward the back bedroom, then turned around, charged an officer and began to wrestle away his gun.

Burgreen described the officer as 5-foot-6 and 140 pounds. He described Dubose as 6-foot-3 and 270 pounds. He also said that Dubose, who had been drinking, tossed a glass of wine at the officer’s face as they began struggling over the gun. The gun discharged, and Dubose was shot by a second officer.

“This is a high-risk warrant service for our officers,” Burgreen said. “But we refuse to give our streets over to the gangs.”

The affidavit for the search warrant, dated March 10, was prepared with the help of a police informant who had been inside the beige stucco one-story home. It states that there was “substantial probable cause to believe” that rock cocaine, rock cocaine derivatives, a large amount of drug paraphernalia, cash, buyer and seller lists, and firearms and ammunition were kept inside.

The affidavit said that police had learned that controlled substances were being sold at the home, and that tips provided in the past by the informant had already resulted in the arrests of at least two people for drug transactions.

The document also said that police recently conducted a controlled buy. Police provided the informant with money, he entered the home, and left without the money but with “a quantity of loose rocks containing a substance which appeared to be consistent in appearance with rock cocaine.” The substance was determined by the police crime lab to be rock cocaine, police said.

“We have a copy of the search warrant,” Burgreen said. “We did not hit the wrong house.”

Son Was Arrested

He said that a few days after the search warrant was obtained, police arrested Dubose’s 36-year-old son, Charles, after a transaction in which drugs were sold to an undercover officer. (Burgreen said Charles Dubose pleaded innocent Wednesday to selling cocaine and bail was set at $4,000 by San Diego Municipal Judge Linda Quinn.)

The next night, members of the department’s Street Narcotics Task Force returned to the home, dressed in bright yellow jackets bearing the word POLICE .

One officer watched through the window while a second officer approached the door, Burgreen said.

“He knocked loudly on the door with his flashlight,” the assistant chief said.

He said the officer identified himself “in a loud commanding voice,” and that the second officer then noticed the elder Dubose moving from the living room toward the back bedroom.

Burgreen said police are trained that the danger in serving search warrants is that suspects often will hurriedly attempt to arm themselves or quickly try to destroy any evidence, such as drugs.

“The officer standing by the window ordered entry into the house,” Burgreen said. “The door was forced open.”

He said the first officer entered the home with his gun drawn, a proper procedure. He said Dubose then turned around and charged the officer, tossing the glass of wine in his face and struggling for the officer’s gun. He said the second officer then entered the home, and the first officer screamed that Dubose had his gun. The gun then discharged.

“We don’t really know who had control of the officer’s revolver,” said homicide Lt. Phil Jarvis. “It discharged during the struggle.”

The second officer then fired five times, each bullet striking Dubose, police said. He was pronounced dead at Mercy Hospital.

Jarvis said it was unclear why Dubose attacked the officer. He said that other family members, including the victim’s wife, another son and two grandchildren were in the home during the shooting.

“They actually saw very little of the action,” Jarvis said. “And they said it was very unlike Mr. Dubose to act like he did. They said they are at a loss to explain his behavior.”

Tommie Dubose was a civilian instructor at the North Island Naval Air Station rework facility.

Family members have filed a complaint with the Police Department, alleging police used unnecessary force against the elder Dubose. The family also has contended that Dubose was known throughout the community as being strongly against drug activity.

Burgreen and Lt. Daniel Berglund, who has been directing the ongoing drug sweeps under a $145,000 federal grant, said that 30 search warrants have been served and 124 people have been arrested in the past two weeks. Six ounces of rock cocaine, $11,000 in cash, 11 firearms and ammunition have been seized, police said.