Dangerous Skate-Rats

Three San Diego police units responded to a report of an assault at the Santa Fe train depot on Monday, December 21, at about 5:15 p.m.

The incident happened at the north end of the Coaster platform on track one. An Amtrak employee who was loading baggage on an adjacent track called police after witnessing two young white males push a man onto the tracks, hit him over the head with a skateboard, and punch him several times. The suspects ran off after the employee yelled, “Get out of here!”

The perpetrators ran up the B Street alley next to the station and then made a right on Kettner Boulevard toward the One America Plaza trolley station. A security guard arrived at the victim’s side before police. The victim, who suffered a cut on his left arm and a bump on the back of his head, said he didn’t need paramedics but wanted to file a police report.

Police officers responding to the scene interviewed the victim and the Amtrak employee. They asked if videotape was available from the camera on the platform and were referred to the North County Transit District security office in Oceanside, where the Coaster platform is monitored 24 hours a day.