Son of Man Slain by Police Is Arrested on Drug Charges

The 25-year-old son of slain Navy instructor Tommie C. Dubose was arrested on narcotics charges last weekend in East San Diego, a police spokesman said.

Brent E. Dubose was taken into custody Saturday at Federal Boulevard and Euclid Avenue, a few blocks from his family’s home. A warrant by the San Diego police street narcotics unit listed four counts of transporting and possessing cocaine for sale.

The arrest is a result of a narcotics investigation that began before the March 12 police shooting of Tommie C. Dubose, 56, police said.

Police said the suspicion that Brent Dubose and his brother, Charles, 36, were involved in narcotics activities led to a search of the family house that ended in their father’s death.

The elder Dubose, who was not suspected of any illegal activity, fought with police soon after they entered the family home, in the 1500 block of 50th Street, police said. He was shot in a struggle over a gun. Brent Dubose was at home when his father was shot.

James Randall, a Long Beach attorney, filed a lawsuit Friday on behalf of Mary Dubose, Tommie’s widow and Brent’s mother. The suit, which named the city and eight San Diego police officers as defendants, claimed that the officers used “unexcused, unjustified and excessive force” when they entered the Dubose home and killed Tommie Dubose.

The arrest warrant for Brent Dubose was issued Saturday afternoon, shortly after Mary Dubose held a press conference to explain why the suit had been filed, Randall said.

The arrest warrant, based on information from a police informant, alleged that the drug offenses occurred on April 20, officials said.