A third female San Diego State University student said she was sexually harassed by Spanish Professor Vincent Martin.

The third student came forward Wednesday, after seeing NBC 7 Investigates stories about two other SDSU investigations confirming sexual harassment by Martin.

Click here to see more on first student  and here for more on the second student.

According to this newly obtained confidential report, Martin “engaged in conduct sufficiently severe and/or pervasive” with this third student, concluding that Martin’s overall behavior violated SDSU’s policy’s against sexual harassment.

The report says Martin and this third student “engaged in a consensual sexual relationship” beginning in early 2013. At the same time, Martin hired the woman to help him with personal computer services, the report said.

“It is more likely than not that Martin made offers [to the student] of academic advantages in exchange for sexual favors,” the report concludes.

According to the report, “Martin was dishonest during a prior (University) investigation when he stated that he had not had a relationship with [the student]. This dishonesty affects Martin’s credibility in this present investigation.”

Martin has not responded to requests for comment, but his lawyer said Martin disputes the findings in all three reports and will challenge them.

In this latest investigation, the university concluded there was not enough evidence to confirm other allegations the student made against Martin.

According to the investigation letter, while “it was more likely than not” Martin referred to the student in terms that were “sexual in nature”, there was not enough evidence to find Martin’s use of those terms was, on its own, “severe and/or pervasive enough to constitute sexual harassment.”

The investigator also could not sustain the student’s allegation that Martin sexually assaulted her during a visit to her apartment on August 14, 2014.

But in addition to the conclusion that Martin’s overall behavior constituted sexual harassment, the investigator found Martin “engaged in unprofessional conduct.”

The letter was sent to the student on March 11. It was forwarded to SDSU’s Provost and Faculty Affairs, “and appropriate action will be taken.”

As NBC 7 Investigates revealed the investigations into Martin, outraged members and supporters of SDSU’s Andrea O’Donnell Womyn’s Outreach Association staged a silent protest Tuesday outside Martin’s office at the University’s Department of Spanish and Portuguese.

Employment law expert Bibi Fell said the findings of these investigations put SDSU on notice that Martin is a risk.

"While he's still teaching, there's certainly the risk that other students are being harassed," Fell said. Fell is a senior trial lawyer with Gomez Trial Attorneys in San Diego.

If Martin harasses another student, Fell said that victim could have ample evidence to sue Martin, the University and California taxpayers for emotional distress and other damages.

"And what we find is that when a jury sees a pattern of conduct that should have been stopped but wasn't, they tend to hit the defendant hard."

NBC 7 Investigates confirmed Martin is still teaching classes. According to SDSU’s Chief Communications Officer Greg Block, Martin was scheduled to teach a Summer Session class this June at SDSU but the class was recently canceled due to low enrollment.

The university won't confirm or deny whether Martin has been disciplined and says it can't disclose anything about the investigative or disciplinary process without violating Martin's right to privacy.

NBC 7 Investigates is working for you. If you have more information about this or other story tips, contact us: (619) 578-0393, NBC7Investigates@nbcuni.com. To receive the latest NBC 7 Investigates stories, subscribe to our newsletter.
 

A man and his two kids who went missing after a camping trip to Sierra County has been found safe, family members said late Thursday.

The co-owner of a popular Oakland, California, barbershop, his 5-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter were last seen Tuesday morning, officials said.

The Sierra County sheriff’s spokesperson confirmed the father is Nicholas Vlahos, and that the search for him and his children was treacherous and snowy in the rugged and remote terrain.

The sheriff's department said an Air National Guard helicopter spotted the family's truck in roughterrain at about 8 p.m. Thursday. The family was found near the small town of Downieville in Sierra County -- about 100 miles northeast of Sacramento.

Leah Bershad, who is the wife of Vlahos' partner, Bradley Roberts, said that Vlahos was an experienced camper, and had just returned from a trip with her husband to the Mojave desert.

She confirmed to NBC Bay Area that it's the same Vlahos who co-owns Temescal Alley Barbershop, which was featured in a 2014 New York Times article," Oakland: Brooklyn by the Bay."

Vlahos was supposed to return from his Sierra trip and be back at work on Wednesday, Bershad said, but he never showed up. Her husband received a text from Vlahos a day or two ago showing some off-road maps that he thought were cool, and she and Roberts assumed he might have taken the kids off-roading in his souped-up truck. She said the sheriff has that information.

People describe the old-fashioned "ultra-masculine" shop, which only takes walk-ins, as the "Cheers" of barbershops.

Authorities said on Tuesday, about 7:15 p.m., the Sierra County sheriff received a report that a 41-year-old man and his children were “overdue” from a camping trip.

They were last seen in western Sierra County, between Sacramento near Nevada, traveling in their 2015 Black Toyota Tundra 4X4 pickup truck from their campsite. Reports indicated the family planned to take a drive through a remote and rugged portion of Sierra and Plumas counties on their return trip home.

Sheriff's deputies, CalFire, and the California Highway Patrol helped in the search.

Cheryl Hurd and Kristofer Noceda contributed to this report.

An unbuckled seat belt set off a series of events that led to a SEPTA bus careening out of control, jumping a concrete barrier and landing on train tracks in South Philadelphia, the transit authority said. The crash injured the bus driver and two passengers.

The Route 29 bus driver was making a U-turn along Columbus Boulevard at Dickinson Street around 6 p.m. Tuesday when she slipped out of her seat and lost control of the bus.

SEPTA spokeswoman Jerri Williams said the driver was trying to detour around a CSX freight train that blocked the bus' usual path at Tasker Street. Bus drivers are required to wear seat belts at all times, Williams said.

"We believe that this accident would not have occurred if she had her seat belt on," Williams said.

Surveillance video from onboard the bus showed the driver, a 10-year veteran, falling from her seat and the violent crash. Two women passengers were thrown forward from the impact. All three were hospitalized and suffered non-life-threatening injuries. A third passenger was not hurt.

CSX workers on the train, stopped just feet from the crash, immediately rushed to render aid and call 911.

Witness Lauren Ferrett told NBC10 on Tuesday it appeared the bus took the U-turn at a high rate of speed.

SEPTA continues to investigate the incident. The driver will face disciplinary action and could lose her job, Williams said.

The number of San Diego County students expelled or suspended for making a “terrorist threat” has increased, according to data from the California Department of Education.

Facebook, Burnbook, Yik Yak are some of the social media sites where schools and its children are becoming targets for violent threats.

Last November, on the phone app Yik Yak, a user stated there would be a shooting at Torrey Pines High School.

“You never think it’s going to happen in your own school,” Sallie Small, a parent of a Torrey Pines High School junior said. “And as a parent when you get that roving call, your heart drops.”

Small's son and his classmates were placed on lockdown for three hours. Her son told her via text messages he was in a classroom “up against the wall and the lights were out.”

The next day, a 17 year old, was arrested for the threat.

Most San Diego county school districts say they don't track the number of violent threats they receive. But according to data from the California Department of Education, during the 2011-2012 school year, 62 students were expelled or suspended in San Diego County for making a terrorist threat. That number jumped by 35% to 84 students last school year. Click here to search the online database. 

Those figures take into account only students who were caught making terrorist threats. The number of general threats is greater.

From January 2014 to January 2015, schools in the San Diego Unified School District alone received 138 reports of threats to individuals or schools. Click here to see a database of the threats.

Frequent threats led the San Diego District Attorney’s office to assemble a multi-agency team to analyze threats and stiffen penalties for those making them.

District Attorney, Bonnie Dumanis, said, “Well I think the important thing for the kids to know is number one, when they think its anonymous, its not anonymous.”

Last month, Dumanis announced her support for Senate Bill 456. It would create a specific crime category for threatening to fire a gun on a school campus. It also would allow for a one year jail sentence and a fine up to a thousand dollars for verbal, written or online threats against schools or students. If the threat results in an emergency response by law enforcement, the bill would also make the person convicted responsible for paying back the cost of those resources.

NBC 7 Investigates asked law enforcement agencies how much it costs when they respond to a school threat. But NBC7 Investigates was told exact figures are not tracked. Costs could only be estimated, and according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, they add up quickly.

Sheriff’s spokesperson Jan Caldwell said, “Tens of thousands of dollars can be spent on a single call.”

Chief of Police for the San Diego Unified School District Rueben Littlejohn said, “In some cases these calls can take a considerable amount of time, depending on the number of students they may need to be interviewed, if someone's home needs to be visited. “

NBC 7 Investigates also tried to find out who what happens to juveniles arrested for making school threats. But the juvenile court judge overseeing the Torrey Pines Yik Yak case denied NBC 7’s request to attend the hearing. The only information released from law enforcement was the 17-year-old was not a Torrey Pines Student.

“We are going to hold them accountable,” Dumanis said. “We do hold them accountable, and we, the public doesn't get to hear what that is because juvenile court is confidential, but we hold them accountable.”

Senate Bill 456 was introduced by San Diego State Senator Marty Block. It passed the public safety committee in March and could come for a full senate vote this month.

NBC 7 Investigates contacted Facebook, Yik Yak and Burnbook for a comment regarding school threats; no one from any of the companies responded to our emails.

NBC 7 Investigates is working for you. If you have more information about this or other story tips, contact us: (619) 578-0393, NBC7Investigates@nbcuni.com. To receive the latest NBC 7 Investigates stories subscribe to our newsletter.

A police pursuit for auto-theft suspects ended with a crash in Otay Mesa Thursday evening.

The suspected car thieves led police on a chase through the South Bay until they crashed into another vehicle near Palm Avenue and Norstad Street at about 7:30 p.m., San Diego police say.

Five people -- three in the suspect vehicle and two in the victim's -- had to be cut out of the vehicles by San Diego Fire-Rescue crews.

All were taken to the hospital. Two of the suspects suffered serious injuries, the SDPD said.

Police closed off the area for a time while they investigated.

“It’s beginning to look a lot like… winter?!” You know it’s chilly out when the ocean temperature is warmer than the air temperature.

That’s been the case around the county in the first full week of May, as clouds and anticipated rain gray out the skies.

Rainfall this late in the year is certainly not common, but it’s not completely unheard of. According to the National Weather Service’s rainfall record for May 7, 32/100 of an inch is the record to beat. That was set back in 1971.

Out of town guests who booked their trip to sunny San Diego weren’t expecting this type of weather, especially Kestie Clark from Las Vegas.

“We brought shorts and tank tops and swim suits, and this is the only jacket I brought,” she said. Her jacket was more like a three quarter sleeve sweatshirt, and she was feeling the cold air.

She and her family decided to pass on going to the beach Thursday in favor of picking fresh strawberries at the Carlsbad Strawberry Company instead.

Which brings up another point : How will the late rainfall affect our local crops? Mary Hillabrecht, a farmer from Escondido, told NBC 7 this rain will just mean more weed pulling for her on her family’s farm.

Another farmer in Oceanside said the light rain will be great for local strawberry crop. Too much can be bad this late in the season, but with the small amount of rain we’re expecting, it should be the perfect amount.

Near the water in Carlsbad, you could nearly spot those from colder places like Utah. TJ Watkins and his family spent their final day in San Diego at the beach.

“It’s a little bit more windy than we were hoping, but it’s been okay," he said.

Watkins’ son could hardly speak because his teeth were chattering from the cold after getting out of the ocean.

The locals, on the other hand, were pretty easy to spot in scarves and heavier jacket.

Some joked with NBC 7 that they’re thankful it “finally feels like winter.”

Michael Schertzer of Carlsbad was enjoying the weather with a walk on the beach: “This is a little atypical, but it’s still great.”

Schertzer added, “You want to have a little variety of different types of weather.” Add the warm winter with all the talk about the seriousness of our drought issue, and people say they’ll take the cold weather if it means any amount of rain.
 

A Rancho Penasquitos teenage soccer player is fighting her fiercest match yet. Her opponent: a rare genetic cancer.

But 13-year-old Kasey Harvey plans to use exercise to win.

The competitive goalie took on her 21st round of chemotherapy at Rady Children’s Hospital Thursday, and she has ten more treatments to go.

Her daily routine begins with stringent morning workouts to help prepare her body for rounds of chemo and proton radiation therapy.

Kasey suffers from a childhood cancer called Rhabdomyosarcoma, which caused a tumor under her eye.

“Learn sometimes life isn't fair. Take what life throws at you," she said.

Kasey's strength comes from her competitive nature. She used to be a goalie for the Arsenal Football Club – one of the best in her division, but cancer forced her to stop playing.

“She's missing out on life,” said her mother Susan. “We're focused on keeping her healthy, keeping her fit and getting through these treatments for a whole year, so she's giving up life really to fight for life.”

Her tough exercises combined with treatment seem to be working. Doctors say her tumor is shrinking.

“I can fight this,” Kasey said. “They have medicine that right now. It's working, and so if it keeps working and I keep working hard, then I will get my life back."

And though she knows chemo will make her sick for the next few days, the goalie told NBC 7 she won't let cancer win.

“This whole ordeal makes me stronger,” she said. “That you can never give up.”

Kasey and her family are looking forward to her last round of chemo which is planned for this August.

Her family is trying to raise funds through MedGift to help pay off her medical costs. They hope to raise $10,000.
 

When it comes to customer service, a lot of San Diegans think the city could do much better.

So do city auditors -- especially in gathering and responding to complaints about infrastructure issues.

And they've got a plan they’re pushing at City Hall: a new 311 line.

San Diego has had 211 information dial-up service for about a decade, but surveys of nearly 700 customers found improvement is needed.

Many cited delays or got the departmental runaround.

Auditor Eduardo Luna's idea? A new, centralized 311 reporting service.

Possible catchphrase branding for marketing purposes: "One call does it all."

“A 311 system would be awesome,” said City Heights resident Teela King, as she walked her 3-year-old son through a playground in Teralta Park on Thursday. "We see a lot of volunteers out here, but I don't see a lot of workers. All I see is maybe people picking up trash. But I don't see a lot of workers fixing anything."

Response times for trouble-shooting graffiti, broken lights and sidewalks in the park can drag up to a week or more, at best -- and it gets a lot of use, wear and tear.

So neighbors tend to pitch in with a hand every now and then when Park & Rec staffers are scarce.

There's no shortage of problems that need reporting to the city south of Interstate 8 because residents there live in older neighborhoods established back well into the 20th century.

"They need two more barbecue grills,” said a resident who identified himself only as “Plazz.” "This place is pretty happening on the weekend because the neighborhood brings all the kids in for birthday parties around the clock, and they would appreciate two more grills."

The park also serves as recess retreat for nearby schools that don't have playgrounds.

Troy Vanderpool, who volunteers walking students to mid-day recreation breaks, enthusiastically welcomed the prospect of a centralized, citywide dial-up service.

"It's a brilliant idea,” Vanderpool told NBC 7. “When we have problems like when a water fountain is jammed with sand or rocks, trying to get one person to take care of it or call is a lot of work. I had to talk to four different workers here that take care of the grounds to find out which department to call because none of them were it. "

A 311 call center might spare taxpayers a lot of delays, gas mileage and frustration -- if not safety hazards as well.

As a quantum leap, Luna’s office has been pushing the discussion at City Hall for a couple months, and it’s been allocated startup planning funds in the mayor’s next budget -- but an online launch date figures to be a ways off.

"For something like this, it should be moved up,” said Vanderpool. “Because having a particular person or area you can call and they know who to contact for a problem or graffiti or stuffed water fountain, that's much more efficient than you call somebody, get a message and call somebody else."

According to Luna, of the nation's 20 most populous cities, San Diego is among only four that don't have a 311 system.

Phoenix, San Jose and Fort Worth are the others, but San Jose is now in the process of establishing one.

The system in Los Angeles is branded: “One Call to City Hall."
 

The Miramar Landfill in San Diego is filled with trash that shouldn't be there. 

A city audit study says 76 percent of materials in the landfill are either recyclable or could be recoverable for other uses.

Jose Ysea with the city of San Diego says more needs to be done to education the public.

"Life has gotten so fast people are just not thinking," said Ysea. They are "not taking that extra step to the recycling bin."

Much of the problem is in neighborhoods where only 24 percent of potential recyclable materials are put into the blue bins. The rest ends up with the regular trash. 

Once it goes into the black bins, it goes straight into the landfill.

Walking through the landfill, you can see bottles, cans and cardboard everywhere -- items that should have been recycled. San Diego recycling now accepts much more including stryrofoam, milk cartons, metal and rigid plastic.

Why can't the city force people to recycle?

"There is an enforcement component where we can go and look in the bins and we can fine you," said Ysea, "but you know that's not what we want to do."

Instead the city hopes recycling campaigns and information will encourage more people to use their blue bins.

For a list of what you can recycle and where, click here.

The first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season formed off the South Carolina coast on Thursday — nearly a month before the season officially begins.

Subtropical storm Ana was located 170 miles south-southeast of Myrtle Beach, with maximum sustained winds near 45 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. The storm was moving north-northwest at about 2 mph.

A tropical storm watch was in effect late Thursday for Edisto Beach, South Carolina, to Cape Lookout, North Carolina. A watch means that tropical storm conditions are possible on this stretch of coast within 48 hours. The system is expected to deliver 2 to 4 inches of rain over eastern areas of both Carolinas over the weekend, and was already creating heavy surf and swells.

The Atlantic hurricane season officially begins June 1 and ends Nov. 30. In the eastern Pacific, it begins May 15 and ends Nov. 30.

A water district in San Marcos plans to launch a patrol program next week to keep an eye out for water wasters and those in violation of drought ordinances.

The Vallecitos Water District will begin its “water waste patrols” on Monday throughout its service area in an effort to enforce water restrictions and educate residents on conservation amid California’s historic drought.

Beginning in the pre-dawn hours and continuing throughout the day, Vallecitos Water District employees will be on the lookout for drought ordinance violations including overspray and runoff into gutters, watering between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., watering during and 48 hours after it rains and hosing down hard surfaces like driveways.

The employees will patrol in marked water district vehicles and will carry water district identification.

“The goal of these patrols is not to penalize customers, but to remind them about watering restrictions and the importance of saving water. We want to help our customers do the right thing and will provide resources and tools that can assist them,” explained Vallecitos Water District general manager Dennis O. Lamb.

The water district said it has already been responding to water waste reports from residents online, by email and by phone.

By implementing these drought patrols, the district said it will be able to better achieve water conservation targets.

The Vallecitos Water District is one of many local districts ordered to save water. Effective on June 1, the Vallecitos Water District will have to save 24 percent, according to goals set by state regulators.

The water district said first-time violators approached during these drought patrols “will receive a warning and will be prescribed corrective measures.”

“The District will work with these customers to educate them about the drought and the associated water use restrictions. Continued violations may result in fines,” the Vallecitos Water District said Thursday.

Vallecitos serves approximately 97,000 residents in a 45-square-mile area that includes San Marcos, Lake San Marcos, parts of Carlsbad, Escondido and Vista and other surrounding unincorporated areas.

For more information about the California drought and its impact on San Diego, read NBC 7’s Running Dry section.

Live music, crawfish and New Orleans culture will spice up San Diego’s Spanish Landing Park this weekend as the Louisiana-themed Gator by the Bay festival sweeps in.

The four-day event takes place Thursday through Sunday on North Harbor Drive – from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday, 3:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, 10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Saturday and 10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, which also happens to be Mother’s Day.

One-day tickets cost between $25 and $40, depending on the day you choose to go. Multi-day passes are also available. Kids age 17 and under get in for free when accompanied by a paid adult.

The lively festival will boast a hefty line-up of blues and jazz music. This year’s long list of participating performers can be seen here.

Food will also take center stage at Gator by the Bay, with “Taste of Louisiana” cooking demonstrations that’ll highlight the secrets of flavorful, hearty Southern cooking. Chefs from the San Diego Mesa College Culinary Arts Department will show attendees how to prepare Etouffee, jambalaya and other Southern specialties.

The festival’s French Quarter Food Court will boil 10,000 pounds of crawfish over the weekend plus other fresh and spicy Louisiana eats such as po’ boys, hot links, gumbo cobbler and gator on a stick, among other things.

Kid-friendly activities will go down at a special spot dubbed the “Castle Lawn,” which includes a hat-making station, face-painting, a mini Mardi Gras parade and lots of music and dancing.

Attendees will also have a chance to learn about Louisiana culture at the Bayou Grove Stage where musicians will share their craft, answer questions about their instruments and recount personal stories of the bayou life.

Finally, the festival’s marketplace will boast many unique vendors selling everything from art, jewelry and clothing to musical instruments and gourmet food products.

For more details about Gator by the Bay, including parking and transportation information, visit the event website.
 

Police officers launched a homicide investigation Thursday after discovering the body of a bloodied man who had been stabbed to death in a gated field in San Diego’s Chollas Creek community.

According to officials, the body was found around 9:20 a.m. in the 5000 block of Wightman Street near University Avenue. The man was in a field full of brush, lying near a creed bed in what police said appears to be a transient camp.

The area is residential, near apartment complexes and homes.

Police officers investigating the scene were walking door-to-door speaking with residents in the area to obtain more information. Other officials stayed at the field collecting evidence.

San Diego Police Department Lt. Paul Rorrison said the person found dead in the field was an unidentified man between 30 and 40 years old.

Rorrison said the man was bloodied and had suffered stab wounds to his upper torso. Blood-stained clothing was discovered approximately 30 feet away from the victim.

No weapon has been found, Rorrison said. The man’s name is not yet known. Police believe he may have been living at the transient camp.

Investigators said witnesses saw several people coming and going from the field before the body was discovered. Police said evidence indicates the victim was attacked a short distance away from the camp before he returned to the field and died there from the stab wounds.

No suspect description was available as of Thursday afternoon, according to the SDPD.

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information on this case should contact the SDPD Homicide Unit at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.

A man who says he has seen surveillance footage of a fatal officer-involved shooting last week in the Midway District says it was a “quick shooting that should not have taken place.”

The San Diego Police Department has launched an investigation into the April 30 shooting in which a veteran officer did not activate his personal body cam. 

The man, who does not want to be identified, works in a building across the alley from the Highlight Book Store on the 3200 block of Hancock Street. He says the video clip is about 30-seconds long and has no audio. The surveillance footage has since been turned over to police.

“I support police, but this was wrong. This guy shouldn’t have been shot based on what I saw on the video,” said the man Thursday. “The guy was walking, just normal, lazical (sic), lazy walking. If he (the officer) said ‘stop’, that’s all he said. He just opened the door, and said ‘stop’ and shot.”

Fridoon Zalbeg Rawshannehad, 42, of San Diego was killed in the incident. The officer has been identified as Neal N. Browder, a 27-year veteran with the San Diego Police Department.

The officer was responding to a 911 call of a man threatening people with a knife. According to a police press release, the officer arrived behind the bookstore and recognized a male matching the suspect description. The officer gave verbal commands to the suspect, but he continued to advance on the officer resulting in an officer-involved shooting.

Police are conducting an investigation into the shooting and say new information could be released in the next few days, but NBC 7 has learned a knife was not found at the scene.

Lt. Paul Rorrison says investigators found a sheath for a knife on the scene, but no actual knife. He says the suspect was holding a shiny object at the time. He would not elaborate on what exactly that object is, only to say it is being processed as evidence.

Meanwhile, the man who viewed the surveillance footage says he did not see an object being held by the suspect.

“It was a quick shooting that shouldn’t have taken place. There was no aggressive action by the other guy,” he said. “Even if the cops said ‘stop,’ that doesn’t mean shoot right then, and that’s all the time he had from the time he stopped the car and opened the door, was to say stop and then shoot. There’s no three or four seconds to say it again. I was just stop the car, open the door, stop, shoot.

Investigators will also look into why the officer did not activate the record button on his body camera during the incident.

On Thursday, the SDPD announced a change to its body camera policy. Instead of waiting to activate their cameras until they get to the scene of a call, officers will now be trained to turn them on before they arrive.

Earlier this week, Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman asked for $2.1 million for 400 more body cameras during a budget presentation to the city council. But she would not comment on why the officer did not activate his body camera.

The chief released this statement, “In any officer involved shooting, we conduct a very methodical, comprehensive, and thorough investigation and that question will be answered during the investigation."

Rorrison says all of the evidence will be turned over to the District Attorney’s office for further review.

Meanwhile, family of Rawshannehad declined to comment on the shooting, asking for privacy as they mourn.
 

The San Diego Police Department announced a change to its body camera policy after an officer failed to turn on his camera before fatally shooting a man in the Midway District.

Instead of hitting record when they contact a suspect, officers will now have to turn on their cameras before they arrive at a scene, SDPD Chief Shelley Zimmerman announced Thursday.

The move comes after Officer Neal Browder shot Fridoon Zalbeg Rawshannehad, 42, to death on April 30. The veteran officer did not hit record on his body worn camera before the encounter.

"All of us wish that that was captured on the body worn camera, and it wasn't captured. So we took a look at our policy to see how can we strengthen that going forward, that we would be able to capture that," said Zimmerman.

The previous body camera policy allowed officers to wait until they had made an enforcement contact before recording. Now they will have to switch their cameras on when they get the radio call.

Calls that would require recording include crimes in progress, when officers expect the suspect will still be there, Zimmerman said.

As the new policy is put into place, the chief said the SDPD will also change how officers train with the cameras as early as the police academy. Officers will wear a full body worn camera on a rotating basis so they can build muscle memory and begin to see it as another essential piece equipment.

"As the leader in body worn cameras ourselves, we're learning as we go also," she said. "Many other police departments are looking to us to see how are program is working."

But the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties said in a statement that the officer did not follow the body camera procedures as they previously stood, so more than a language change is needed.

“There’s no transparency and accountability," the ACLU statement reads. "It’s completely unacceptable that one line policy change is the same as transparency or accountability. They have policy in place. It apparently it was not followed. The solution is to not change the policy, it’s to hold officers accountable to the policy.”

ACLU spokeswoman Margaret Dooley-Sammuli said the department needs to be open about exactly what happened on April 30.

"We don't know what happened. That's the big piece," she said. "But we need to."

Zimmerman offered no new details about the investigation into last week's deadly police interaction, but she did confirm that the officer involved, Browder, has been placed on administrative leave, as is standard with officer-involved shootings.

The SDPD says just after midnight on April 30, Browder was responding to a report of a man threatening people with a knife at the Highlight Bookstore in the Midway District.

When the officer arrived behind the bookstore, he saw a man matching the suspect's description. Police say Browder gave the man verbal commands, but the suspect "continued to advance." Browder then opened fire on the man, later identified as Fridoon Zalbeg Rawshannehad, killing him.

Lt. Paul Rorrison said Tuesday that investigators found no knife on Rawshannehad's body — just a knife sheath and a shiny object. That object has been taken into evidence, but investigators have not given details about what it is or if it is considered a weapon.

Zimmerman did not answer why Browder failed to turn on his body camera. She said the SDPD's internal affairs will investigate the reason and decide if the officer will face discipline for breaking the old policy.

While there is no police footage of the shooting, Zimmerman confirmed other surveillance footage has been recovered from nearby buildings. A man who works in a building across the alley told NBC 7 he saw video of the incident.

“I support police, but this was wrong. This guy shouldn’t have been shot based on what I saw on the video,” said the man, who did not want to be identified. “The guy was walking, just normal, lazical (sic), lazy walking. If he (the officer) said ‘stop’, that’s all he said. He just opened the door, and said ‘stop’ and shot.”

Dooley-Sammuli with the ACLU called for the SDPD to release that surveillance video and show what happened that night.

The homicide unit, which is conducting its own investigation, will turn over all evidence to the District Attorney's office for further review, Rorrison told NBC 7. The case will also go before the Citizens' Review Board on Police Practices and the training division.

A judge will hear more arguments Friday concerning controversial conspiracy charges against six defendants snared in a large ongoing gang case.

The case got a lot of attention because it involved San Diego rapper Brandon Duncan who was charged with conspiracy based on the lyrics of his rap music.

A judge dismissed the charge against Duncan last month.

The court heard arguments all day today on the defense's motion to dismiss the controversial conspiracy charges against six remaining defendants in a sweeping ongoing gang case.

Only two of the six defendants who are alleged members of a Lincoln Park gang will be released if the judge dismisses the conspiracy charges based on their Facebook posts.

The other four will remain in custody pending the outcome of RICO charges against them.

Prosecutors played graphic videos and audio in court today and showed Facebook posts of the defendants.

“Based on the evidence, that they were all active participants of the ‘Hit Squad’ and we see that the Hit Squad’s goal was to commit hits and to kill their rivals, to kill Neighborhood Crypts and West Coast Crypts and this ongoing conspiracy to do that,” argued Assistant District Attorney James Simmons.

Prosecutors said the defendant’s Facebook posts prove conspiracy and that the defendants, all Lincoln Park Bloods, profited and benefited from violence against rival gang members between 2012 and 2014.

Defense attorneys argued that their clients did not participate in the crimes or even know about the ones the District Attorney’s office based the conspiracy charge on.

The defendants were charged under Penal Code 182.5, a conspiracy law that basically says active gang members can be charged for crimes committed by other members even if they were not involved in the crime.

“It’s an injustice,” said Duncan, who said he was in court today to support those who remain in custody. “It’s wrong because they demonize our culture based off their beliefs. They don’t even listen to our music because they don’t understand our music or understand who we are.”

The District Attorney’s office sent this statement about the use of the 182.5 charge to combat gang violence:
“ The District Attorney’s Office has been reaching out to faith-based leaders, community representatives and activists, meeting with them several times to listen to their misgivings over the use of this particular law to combat gang violence.

While the court has said the DA’s Office used this law properly when it comes to most of the defendants charged with Penal Code 182.5, we’ve decided not to appeal the cases against defendants where the charge has been dismissed. In the future, we will carefully review the court’s legal analysis of this law— along with the community input we’ve received— before filing any potential future charges based on PC182.5.

Our goal continues to be protecting neighborhoods across San Diego County from deadly gang violence and holding the most active gang members accountable for crimes that terrorize the community. It’s so important that conversations like this one continue to happen and that we recognize they’re taking place amid a broader nationwide discussion on important social justice issues.”
 

The weekend has finally arrived! From live music and a fine art gallery to a butterfly festival and bacon and craft brew bash, there is so much going on around San Diego.

Thursday, May 7

Friday, May 8

U.S. Air Guitar San Diego Qualifier 

SoundDiego Suggestion:
Pitbull, Jason Derulo, David Guetta, Prince Royce, Meghan Trainor, Fifth Harmony, Echosmith

Saturday, May 9
Bacon & Barrels Festival

Butterfly Festival

SoundDiego Suggestion:

Dirt Nasty

Sunday, May 10

UC San Diego Health System and the City of El Centro are entering into an agreement to expand health care services to Imperial Valley, the university announced.

The deal was made on behalf of El Centro Regional Medical Center, the city-owned hospital in El Centro.

The management services agreement will launch with a comprehensive assessment of the El Centro hospital’s operational and clinical needs, conducted by UC San Diego Health System.

The health systems will collaborate to provide clinical team members with access to joint research projects and educational opportunities, such as continuing medical education through the UC San Diego School of Medicine.

If needed, patients of El Centro Regional Medical Center will have direct access to highly specialized and advanced diagnostic, imaging, surgical, oncologic and cardiac services typically only found in academic health centers.

UC San Diego Health System currently supports the Imperial Valley by providing some cardiac and trauma care, along with other specialty care services. Future areas of specialty support will include endocrinology, allergy and immunology, cardiology, rheumatology, and nephrology.

The relationship between UC San Diego Health System and El Centro Regional Medical Center follows the recent affiliation of Imperial Valley Family Care Medical Group with the UC San Diego Health Physician Network.

The collaboration was officially launched on May 5.

UC San Diego Health System also is pursuing a collaboration with Eisenhower Medical Center in the Coachella Valley.

The proposed partnership could potentially lead to the expansion of the Rancho Mirage hospital into a teaching and research hospital.

The deal is still being negotiated, but the hospital’s management team has met with the university's leadership and the hospital’s board approved signing a letter of intent that would move it toward a clinical affiliation for medical services.