A Bang-Up Stop

POWAY — Traffic stops are iffy, especially in places like San Diego where folks who don’t enjoy being pulled over are more inclined to sing it from the rooftops.

Intersection of Poway & Welton, approximate location of stop and arrest

And so it went that on November 16th at around 7:50 p.m., an SDPD officer attempted to pull over a suspected drunken motorist near the intersection of Espola Road and Poway Road. The vehicle’s emergency lights flickered on.

A gunshot rang out.

Or so it sounded to the officer, who shortly heard three more gunshots — accompanied by visible muzzle flashes from a firearm on the passenger side — and immediately radioed for backup. Deputies from the San Diego Sheriff’s Department were soon to arrive, this time near the intersection of Poway and Welton where the vehicle had finally been stopped.

Two men were removed and detained while the vehicle was searched and, lo and behold, a handgun was found. Deputies also closed Poway Road temporarily so as to comb the area where the shots were fired, finding expended shell casings in the road.

The investigation is ongoing, meanwhile Sheriff’s detectives arrested the vehicle’s passenger, Michael Rains (28) of Ramona, and driver, self-proclaimed transient Daniel Schwartzel (18), and booked the pair into San Diego Central Jail on attempted murder, where they remained housed without bail.

Read more:

CBS 8: Shots fired at San Diego police officer

Los Angeles Times: 2 arrested on suspicion of trying to kill San Diego police officer

U-T San Diego: Shots fired at cop, two arrested in Poway