San Diego

A good Samaritan identified a defendant in court Friday as the man whom he gave a ride and who then robbed him of his car and shot him.

Eugene Smith, 27, an employee of the San Diego Park and Recreation Department, said at a preliminary hearing that he is positive that Michael Manuel Brito, 25, of San Diego is the man he tried to help after seeing him walking along the freeway with a gas can Aug. 12.

Brito was ordered to stand trial on charges of attempted murder and robbery. San Diego Municipal Judge Frederic L. Link set an arraignment for Sept. 23 in Superior Court and continued Brito’s bail at $20,000. Brito remains in County Jail downtown.

Smith testified that he saw Brito walking along California 94 at Euclid Avenue, hitchhiking and carrying a gasoline can.

Smith said he pulled over and offered the man a ride, and that the man pointed a gun at him without warning after getting into the car.

“He asked me for all my gold and money. The gun was pointed at me. He shot me in the back. I was almost out of the car when he shot me,” Smith said.

Smith said he ran to a nearby gas station for help after the man drove off in his 1981 Cadillac. Smith was hospitalized about 10 days.

The car was later found, stripped, in Southeast San Diego.

The only defense witness, Chris Kramer, a private investigator, said she showed photographs of five men to Smith and that Smith identified one of them as his attacker, even though Brito’s photograph was not among them.

Brito was arrested Aug. 22 after a tip to the Crime Stoppers program. The defendant is a mechanic and had previous convictions for grand theft and burglary, according to court records.