Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Would-Be Carlsbad Pizzeria Thief Charged with Seven Felonies

Thomas Scott Ruth, 22, allegedly told Carlsbad police officer Shaun Lawton that he made a spur-of-the-moment decision to rob a pizzeria on State Street in February. Officer Lawton gave testimony in the Vista courthouse on June 30.

Ruth, 22, allegedly held a loaded gun to the face of the pizza-shop owner before midnight on February 16 and demanded, “Give me the money!” according to witnesses. Both workers at the pizza shop that night, owner-operator Mychal Dourson and delivery driver Patrick Clemons, said they were sprayed with mace by their attacker before they wrestled him to the ground and disarmed him.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Dourson sat on the assailant while Clemons dialed 911, both witnesses said. Patrick Clemons said of the assailant: “He was acting tripped out, weird.” Clemons said the robber’s “eyes were darting all over the place.”

Lawton said after he handcuffed the suspect at the scene, the man told him he was on prescription medication, which may have affected him. The medication was not identified. The officer also said the handgun recovered at the scene was a pellet pistol in the style of a Beretta semi-automatic.

Dourson, the owner of Paradise Pizza, said pellets and BBs spilled from the weapon during the altercation and he spent days picking up the ammo from the floor of his shop, including under the pizza oven. At the end of the preliminary hearing, judge Aaron Katz ordered Ruth to stand trial on seven felonies, including attempted robbery and assault with caustic chemicals.

Pictured: Thomas Ruth

Credit: Nick Morris

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego Reader's Best Of Poll 2024: Remington Tattoo Wins!

Next Article

Experience Hendrix, Falling Doves, Peter Sprague, Sandi King, Clikatat Ikatowi

Tributes, listening parties, and screenings in Kensington, Carlsbad, La Mesa, Little Italy, and downtown

Thomas Scott Ruth, 22, allegedly told Carlsbad police officer Shaun Lawton that he made a spur-of-the-moment decision to rob a pizzeria on State Street in February. Officer Lawton gave testimony in the Vista courthouse on June 30.

Ruth, 22, allegedly held a loaded gun to the face of the pizza-shop owner before midnight on February 16 and demanded, “Give me the money!” according to witnesses. Both workers at the pizza shop that night, owner-operator Mychal Dourson and delivery driver Patrick Clemons, said they were sprayed with mace by their attacker before they wrestled him to the ground and disarmed him.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Dourson sat on the assailant while Clemons dialed 911, both witnesses said. Patrick Clemons said of the assailant: “He was acting tripped out, weird.” Clemons said the robber’s “eyes were darting all over the place.”

Lawton said after he handcuffed the suspect at the scene, the man told him he was on prescription medication, which may have affected him. The medication was not identified. The officer also said the handgun recovered at the scene was a pellet pistol in the style of a Beretta semi-automatic.

Dourson, the owner of Paradise Pizza, said pellets and BBs spilled from the weapon during the altercation and he spent days picking up the ammo from the floor of his shop, including under the pizza oven. At the end of the preliminary hearing, judge Aaron Katz ordered Ruth to stand trial on seven felonies, including attempted robbery and assault with caustic chemicals.

Pictured: Thomas Ruth

Credit: Nick Morris

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Jacobs Music Center Grand Opening

The concert did what it was designed to do
Next Article

Quill & Arrow Law is Saving Drivers Around California with Lemon Law

Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader