Guard Holds 20 Men at Bay After Arresting Companion

The private security guard in the Old Town apartment complex asked the man drinking Friday night in the parking lot to move along.

The man refused, and the guard, confronted at various times by up to 20 angry men, swung into action:

He handcuffed the suspect, then lost him. He swung his baton at a group of the man’s companions, then was surrounded and beaten when he lost control of the baton.

He fired a warning shot into the air. He fired again at the group of men as they attempted to flee in a car, flattening a rear tire. He fired a second time and flattened a front tire. He fired a third time, this time through the windshield, striking the driver.

The car stopped. The smoke cleared. Police arrived.

Five men--Luis Vicario, 18, Felipe Campos, 23, Eduardo Trujillo, 20, Guillermo Alonso, 21, and Victor Rodriguez, 30--were arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, a Chevy Chevette.

Rodriguez, the driver, had been shot in the right arm. He was taken to the UC San Diego Medical Center and placed under sheriff’s guard.

The 31-year-old security guard, John Goulart, was treated for back and neck pain at the medical center and released. He gave police this story:

He arrested Campos about 8 p.m. for drinking and urinating in the apartment parking lot near the 2200 block of San Diego Avenue.

Four or five men then surrounded Goulart, but the security guard swung his baton and the men backed off. Goulart took Campos into the manager’s office, but the suspect kicked him and Goulart shocked Campos with his stun gun.

Five or six men ran into the office and screamed at Goulart. Campos, now handcuffed, ran outside. Goulart chased after him, and then found himself surrounded by about 20 men.

The security guard was hit on the back and dropped his baton. He was hit in the neck and back. He pulled out his revolver and fired into the air. The crowd moved back. And then Campos and about three others ran to the Chevette in the parking lot.

The car began to back out of the lot, and Goulart shot out a back tire. The car moved toward Goulart, and he shot out a front tire. The men jumped out of the car and fled on foot. Goulart chased after them and found himself surrounded by 10 other men. Then Campos and the smaller group ran back to the car. They jumped in and again turned the car toward Goulart.