Category: True Crime

FOX 5 SAN DIEGO — Police arrested a man accused of stabbing a person who tried to stop him from stealing a car before taking that stolen vehicle to a methadone clinic across town Sunday morning.

Officers first got a call around 9 a.m. from a person who said their car had been stolen in Point Loma. Police learned the man had also allegedly stabbed a person in the arm who tried to stop him from taking the Honda, though it was not immediately clear whether the stab victim was also the owner of the car.

The theft victim had a tracking device in their vehicle, allowing police to follow the car all the way to a methadone clinic in Mission Valley, Lt. Christian Sharp explained. The suspect stopped inside the clinic before eventually leaving with two other people in an SUV.

Lynn Kearns a patient at the clinic did not want to show her face but says she saw the suspect and all the commotion.

“I was at the Methadone clinic in Fashion Valley, and I was taking a dose of Methadone when the nurse said, ‘You might want to get out of here, there’s a lot of police coming, we’ve got two people bloodied that we’re bringing into the back door,” said Kearns.

The investigation was only further complicated when that car stopped at a Ralph’s parking lot and the suspects swapped vehicles once again, Sharp said. Officers were still sorting through multiple crime scenes Sunday afternoon, but they were eventually able to track down the man and arrest him in Ocean Beach.

“Obviously this is kind of a convoluted crime scene so we’re trying to figure out exactly everybody’s part in the stolen vehicle portion, and the stabbing,” Sharp said.

The stab victim was expected to make a full recovery.

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For those unfamiliar, methadone clinics are legal dopehouses established for people seeking treatment for addiction to various opioid drugs, including heroin, morphine and oxycontin.

It would seem that these facilities are set up to aid in reducing crimes of this nature associated with drug addiction? It’s fascinating that these crimes now occur as a result of the clinics.

According to the Recovery Village website:

“By administering methadone, clinics use replacement therapy to help patients deal with the withdrawal symptoms and cravings experienced when they stop using other opioids. All clinics are state and federally regulated and are certified by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).”

Thoughts?