Fish Hooks Man--Now That Really Is News

Book ‘em. Grand theft, fish.

It all started when a cleaning woman who had been sent to tidy up a supposedly vacant apartment in Vista was startled to find a man inside. She ran out and called the Sheriff’s Department about a possible burglary.

Deputy Hernando Torres arrived a few minutes later and discovered not a burglary but a misunderstanding. Somehow the landlord had mistakenly thought the apartment resident, 18-year-old Antonio Montana, had moved out.

Torres, a street-savvy cop with a good memory, had had other professional dealings with Montana. So he asked if he could come in and look around the apartment. Certainly.

My, isn’t that a handsome 5-foot-long stuffed and mounted blue sailfish over in the corner? Wasn’t one just like that reported missing after a nearby residential burglary last week?

And look at that 1984 Honda motorbike in the bedroom, the one with the jimmied ignition. One just like that reported stolen in Oceanside a month ago.

In about the time it takes to say, “You have the right . . . ,” Torres arrested Montana on suspicion of two felony counts.

But when the case went to court last month--for a guilty plea--the charges were misdemeanors.

Another case of the system letting a culprit off the hook? Not so, insists Deputy Dist. Atty. Phil Walden, supervisor of the district attorney’s North County office, who says the heavier charges were not reasonable.

“In my professional career we have not had a lot of success sending people to state prison for stealing stuffed fish,” Walden said. “I hope that’s not offensive to the fishing community.”

Municipal Judge Victor Ramirez sentenced Montana to 17 days in County Jail for the hot fish (11 days suspended, 6 days’ credit for time served), and 100 days for the motorbike (17 days’ credit).

The motorbike went to the impound lot. The fish was taken to the Sheriff’s Department in Vista, where it was photographed and released to the custody of its overjoyed owner.

Into the Trenches

Except for the card girls who stroll around the ring between rounds, the monthly boxing matches at the El Cortez Hotel in downtown San Diego are strictly macho affairs. A mostly male audience watches male boxers.

But now Robert DePhilippis, whose wife, Lillian, is the official promoter of the El Cortez matches, is trying to arrange a bout between two women bantamweights--thought to be the first female fight in San Diego pro boxing history.

“Myself, I’m not really all that excited about women fighting, but people seem to want it, so I’ll try to put it together,” DePhilippis said. “I remember a fight I saw up in Bakersfield. The girl was very pretty when she went into the ring but not very pretty when she came out.”

As long as the combatants are licensed by the California Athletic Commission, the state has no objection. Fewer than a dozen women hold such licenses, contrasted with about 760 men.

“I’ve been here five years and seen only two fights involving women,” said commission inspector Bob Lynch. “We occasionally see female martial artists. The martial arts involve more finesse and form that better suits women. Boxing is trench warfare.”

Beep-Beep Means Walk

Yes, those are bird sounds you hear even when there are no birds around.

The city of San Diego is finishing up installation of special “audible” traffic light warnings at 17 more busy intersections, including four on Broadway downtown.

It’s part of a continuing project backed by the city’s Committee for the Removal of Architectural Barriers to help the blind and vision-impaired.

A beep-beep road runner-style sound means it’s OK to cross east-west, a cuckoo sound says it’s OK north-south. The sounds are used internationally.

When the traffic is unusually heavy, a sensor boosts the volume of the signals. The electronic units are produced by a Japanese firm.

Nothing to Sniff at

The latest fad among a small group of students in San Marcos and Vista is snorting flavored salt from Mexico, which until lately has been sold in tiny packets in neighborhood grocery stores.

The stuff is no more dangerous than regular salt, but parents and cops are worried about any behavior that imitates drug use.

After receiving several complaints, state health investigators asked four stores to stop selling the salt--which comes in lemon, lime and tangelo flavors--because it does not list its name and ingredients in English.

Wholesalers in Los Angeles have been told to cease distribution.

“The product is basically harmless, but the behavior is dangerous,” said health investigator Christopher Wogee.

“The only thing kids should be snorting is air.”