Photographer Wins Claim He Was Good Samaritan, Not Lawbreaker

Sometimes a big story also creates a smaller story.

Take the confused scene when a trowel-waving construction worker was shot to death by a San Diego police officer on Interstate 5 on the morning of May 21.

In the moments after the controversial shooting, drivers pulled to the side of the road where La Jolla’s Ardath Road meets California 52. The overpass above I-5 provided a good vantage point.

Several drivers were given tickets for stopping illegally on an overpass. One was Richard Alletag, 29, a commercial photographer.

Alletag protested that he had stopped as a possible good Samaritan. He refused to sign the ticket and was hauled off to jail.

He was hit with a misdemeanor charge of refusing to obey a lawful order. This week, the case went to trial.

The jury found Alletag not guilty of the misdemeanor, and Judge Howard Shore dismissed the traffic citation.

The prosecutor claimed that a police helicopter had ordered Alletag and others to leave.

Alletag said he never saw a helicopter. Robin McPherson, 35, an investment broker who had stopped just before Alletag, testified that he didn’t either.

The prosecutor produced a police report showing that the helicopter pilot had spotted a truck similar to Alletag’s.

Alletag’s attorney responded that the truck noted by the pilot was on the opposite side of the road.

The prosecutor claimed Alletag was parked on the overpass, not on Ardath, because a police diagram showed he could not have seen the commotion from Ardath in time to stop.

Alletag produced an aerial photo to dispute this.

The jury deliberated for two hours. “Both sides fought hard, and the jury decided it,” said the judge.

Alletag and McPherson figure they got crunched by a cop in the throes of high adrenaline and an exaggerated need to control an oddball situation during rush hour.

Neither Alletag nor McPherson saw the shooting.

But both now wonder if what happened to the trowel-waver on I-5 may have involved a scenario similar to theirs, only with deadly results.

This Land Is Your Land

Sights and sounds.

That was then, this is now.

On June 11, San Diego Councilwoman Linda Bernhardt told a Save Miramar Lake meeting that she was “99.99% sure” that Scripps Ranch would remain in her district under redistricting.

Bernhardt told the assembled environmentalists, many of whom worked in her election campaign, that she wouldn’t abandon them in their fight with developers.

On Monday, Bernhardt joined her four council allies in endorsing the Mystery Map that shifts Scripps Ranch (and a big political headache) to the district of pro-growth Bruce Henderson.

Bernhardt’s political consultant, Rick Taylor, helped draw the map.

Busman’s holiday.

Alan Roocroft, head elephant trainer at the Wild Animal Park, attending Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus at the Sports Arena.

Taking snapshots of the elephants.

Vietnam veterans will assemble today at Top O’ the Cove restaurant in La Jolla to meet Eric Hammel, author of the just-published “Ambush Valley.”

It’s the history of a battle that left 40% of a Marine battalion dead or wounded.

Among the survivors whose story is included is Top O’ the Cove proprietor Ron Zappardino.

High Comedy

Everybody wants into the act.

Pilot to passengers on USAir flight from San Francisco to San Diego:

“If you didn’t like my flying, remember this is Aeroflot Flight 2006. I’m Boris Yeltsin.”

The Rock Church, a new ministry of Calvary Chapel Oceanside, is set to begin next month: guitars, drums, mega-volume amplifiers, long-hair ministers, etc.

“Jesus is the Rock of our salvation,” said the pastor.

The San Diego Libertarian Party plans a July 28 hike to Green Valley Falls in the Cuyamaca Mountains.

Once they reach the falls, hikers will read aloud from H. L. Mencken.