Mad Man

On May 24, at around 9:30 a.m., police had to subdue a seemingly deranged man at the Palomar Street trolley station. When I came upon the scene, police were restraining the man. Two people told me he had attacked several people before the police were called. There were about 60 people at the station, including schoolchildren.

The man reportedly had launched into a tirade interspersed with moments of placidity. He would then spring to his feet and pace the platform, screaming hoarse-voiced obscenities and frightening a group of 30 first-graders waiting to go on a school-sponsored trolley trip. Adult escorts kept the children away from the malcontent as he waved his arms and bellowed. Other awaiting passengers kept to the opposite side of the tracks.

An MTS official and two rubber-gloved Chula Vista cops managed to approach the ranter and cajole him into handcuffs after verbally sparring with him. Once cuffed and seated on a cement bench, the man pondered police questioning and occasionally arose to spew epithets at curious onlookers.

Two more squad cars arrived, lights flashing, and two beefy officers approached the man in order to squire him off. The man did not appear drunk, but rather deeply disturbed, perhaps schizophrenic. Trains continued to function during the incident.