Otay Mesa

One man was in custody Thursday after attempting to rob three uniformed San Diego police officers about half a mile north of the border, police said.

The officers, members of the Border Crime Intervention Unit, were at an observation point at Old Dairy Mart and Monument roads when they were surrounded by three men about 11:45 p.m. Wednesday, said Bill Robinson, a San Diego Police Department spokesman.

One of the men asked the officers if they had any “weed” (marijuana), Robinson said. As they were talking, the officers noticed that one of the men, Jose Ramirez, had a knife in his hand. Then, as the first man asked the officers for money, the third man pulled out a gun, Robinson said.

The officers struggled with the men and Ramirez was taken into custody. The other two fled south across the border. Officers seized the knife Ramirez was holding and a .22-caliber Ruger pistol, which was dropped by the third suspect, Robinson said.

Ramirez, 18, was booked on three counts of suspicion of attempted armed robbery and was being held in lieu of $45,000 bail at County Jail downtown. Ramirez, a native of Los Mochis in Mexico, told police he has been living in Tijuana, Robinson said.

The officers--Joe Bane, Paul Hollman and Michael Richardson--have been with the unit for less than a year, Robinson said.