Local News in Brief : Fall Into Ravine Kills Topanga Canyon Man

A Topanga Canyon man fell to his death in a ravine while attempting to elude a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department helicopter that had followed him from a bar where a fight had been reported, authorities said Monday.

Robert Collins, 46, fell about 35 feet from a rear porch of his hillside house in the 200 block of Topanga Canyon Boulevard, said Sheriff’s Detective Dan Burt.

The incident began about 7 p.m. Sunday when a fight involving a man with a gun was reported at Bruno’s, a bar about two miles from Collins’ home, Burt said. Deputies flew over the area in the helicopter and spotted Collins’ pickup truck as he and a passenger sped away from the bar, Burt said.

When the truck arrived at Collins’ house, the passenger got out and walked away along Topanga Canyon, Burt said. The man was later questioned by authorities and released.

Burt said a deputy using the helicopter’s loudspeaker told Collins, who appeared to have gone inside his house, to surrender. Collins’ body was next spotted lying in the creek bed below his home, Burt said.

“We believe he was attempting to exit the back of his home when he fell,” Burt said. “He was barefoot and we believe he was highly intoxicated.”

Deputies investigating the incident said they could not determine whether there had been a fight at the bar, whether a gun was involved or who made the initial report. Authorities said they found a knife on Collins’ body, but no gun was found.