Frequent Freeloader on Trolley Jailed

Rack up 15 misdemeanor arrest warrants, and a scofflaw gets put on the San Diego County marshal’s most wanted list.

Kenneth Montanez Jackson had 119.

For three years, Jackson scoffed and scoffed some more, until he became the marshal’s misdemeanor public enemy No. 1, authorities said.

On Wednesday, the 32-year-old, unemployed East San Diego man pleaded not guilty to the 119 petty counts, Deputy San Diego City Atty. Gretchen North said.

Jackson was arrested last week after a deputy marshal spotted him on Market Street near 7th Avenue, Deputy Marshal Larry Kusler said. The marshal’s office had been looking for Jackson, whom they had identified as a notorious trolley passenger, one who allegedly had been taking free rides since 1988.

More than 100 of Jackson’s warrants were for trolley fare evasions, the county marshal’s office said. Other infractions included loitering, jaywalking and entering school grounds without permission.

But the violation that eventually transformed Jackson from a habitually freeloading commuter to a hunted man was his failure to appear in court, North said.

Each fare evasion violation is punishable by a fine up to $500 and up to six months in County Jail.

A bail $301 was set for each fare-evasion violation and accompanying failure to appear in court, North said. Jackson accumulated about $37,000 in unpaid bail on all the warrants. He is being held at the Las Colinas Jail in Santee.

“That’s what he gets for trying to ride for free,” North said.

Officials at the Metropolitan Transit Development Board, which operates the trolley, said transit police issue 36,000 fare-evasion tickets annually to people who do as Jackson allegedly did.

Citations are given during random checks on trolley cars, said Dan Portuguez, a transit district supervisor. Passengers without trolley tickets are cited.

There are 484 people in San Diego County who each have at least 15 misdemeanor warrants, Kusler said. Trolley fare evasion is one of the more common violations, he said.

After Jackson’s arrest, the marshal’s office focused its attention on the new top scofflaw. The man, whom authorities did not identify, has 110 misdemeanor warrants outstanding, and, Kusler said, he “likes to ride the trolley, too.”