Stab Victim Dies Near Phone Booth
A 26-year-old man was chased down a block and stabbed in East San Diego early Thursday morning before collapsing and dying beside a phone booth, authorities said.
Ronald Paul Heater, described by authorities as a transient, was found by a passerby slumped against a wall by the phone booth at the southeast corner of Marlborough and University avenues, said Bill Leard, an investigator with the Medical Examiner’s office.
“Blood was smeared all over the phone, and the phone was off the cradle,” Detective Lt. Dan Berglund said.
A second man, whose identity was not available, was standing nearby with his hands handcuffed behind his back, Berglund said. He had been beaten with a pipe and suffered a collapsed lung.
The assault began in a home in the 4100 block of Polk Avenue and may have been drug-related, Berglund said.
There were no arrests, and police declined to say whether they have any suspects.
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