SAN DIEGO —
A San Diego police helicopter took lead in the capture early Saturday morning of four men accused of tagging, loitering, and consuming alcohol in a public Ocean View area park.
Officers received reports around 1:30 a.m. of "taggers loitering" in Vista Pacifica Park in the community of Ocean View Hills, according to a Watch Commander on duty with San Diego police.
ABLE, San Diego police’s airborne law enforcement helicopter, was in the area for a previous call, and was first on scene overhead Vista Pacifica Park, San Diego police said.
Four suspects were tracked from the air while helicopter crews communicated with officers on the ground regarding the young men’s whereabouts.
ABLE observed one of the suspects throw an object into a nearby bush and continued to call out the suspect's movements until officers on the ground arrived on the scene, police said.
Video from OnScene.TV showed four “young men” lying on the ground, illuminated by ABLE’s night sun, an incredibly bright spotlight used to assist authorities in seeing their scene or subject in dark conditions.
Four people were detained, according to SDPD.
ABLE flew back to the scene, where the onboard crew guided officers on the ground to the unknown object a suspect threw into a bush, which was later determined to be a firearm, police said.
Officers returned to Vista Pacific Park and located opened and unopened cans of Modelo beer at a picnic table where the suspects were loitering.
San Diego City prohibits the consumption of alcohol in a public park between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. unless otherwise permitted, according to the City of San Diego.
No injuries were reported.
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