Crime & Safety

Dog Warning Leads to Surrender; Teen Held in Trolley Mugging

Johnathan Williams of Spring Valley is under arrest in connection with robbery Wednesday morning at the Amaya Trolley Station.

Warned about a police dog, a 19-year-old man surrendered to La Mesa police Wednesday morning after a search following a woman’s report she was robbed of a Sony digital book reader, police said.

According to La Mesa police, the victim was riding a westbound trolley near the Amaya Drive Trolley Station around 8 a.m. when an unarmed man took her digital reader. She was not injured.

He left the trolley when it stopped at the Amaya station, police said, and the woman reported the incident.

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That launched a search by members of the La Mesa Police Department, San Diego Transit Authority and San Diego County Sheriff’s K-9 unit, with air support from the ASTREA helicopter. 

A trolley operator spotted a man running along the trolley tracks in the 8800 block of Fletcher Parkway, police said, leading officers to set up a perimeter and began a closer search of the area. 

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“When the ASTREA helicopter made announcements that a K-9 was going to search the bushes, the suspect voluntarily came out of the bushes along the trolley tracks and surrendered to the officers,” said a police news release.  

Police identified the arrested man as Johnathan Williams, 19,  of Spring Valley.  He was booked into County Jail on robbery charges.   

According to jail records, Williams is being held on $100,000 bail with arraignment set for 1:30 p.m. Friday in East County Superior Court in El Cajon.


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