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

Hairy, naked and swinging at cops

Marines witnessed scuffle last June

Joshua Lachica has been held in lieu of $30,000 bail since the incident, 170 days ago.
Joshua Lachica has been held in lieu of $30,000 bail since the incident, 170 days ago.

A jury trial started this week, on November 26, for a young man who allegedly punched an Oceanside police officer while naked and high on meth.

American Deluxe Barbershop

The attorney for Joshua Adams Lachica, 26, suggested that officers threatened him first by displaying a taser and a metal baton, while the young man was minding his own business on a seaside sidewalk, the night of June 7.

A short video clip, reportedly uploaded to Instagram, has been shown over and over, and in slow motion, for the jury.

It was only five months ago when Lachica allegedly came into the American Deluxe Barbershop on North Coast Highway, not wearing any clothes, and seated himself in one empty chair and began talking to himself. Three Marines who were in the barbershop getting fresh haircuts noticed the man’s long hair and incoherent conversation; they also remarked on his nakedness, in their testimony this week.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The Marines had intended to eat at Chronic Tacos next door, after they paid for their haircuts, but the naked man had come outside and was blocking their path; they walked around the block. When the Marines got back to the same spot, police were on scene and trying to converse with Lachica, according to witnesses.

A police officer testified that they got there about 8:20 pm, and that the busy farmer’s market which happens Thursday nights in Oceanside was only a block away. The cop said she expected a lot of foot traffic when it closed at 9 pm, and was concerned for everyone’s safety.

A bystander got cell phone video of Lachica charging officers and punching one cop in the head and kicking another officer after he was taken to the ground, according to prosecutor Joshua Brisbane. A short video clip, reportedly uploaded to Instagram, has been shown over and over, and in slow motion, for the jury.

Defense attorney Wil Rumble suggested that officers used excessive force.

After the confrontation, Lachica was being transported to hospital with bruises and swelling on his legs when he allegedly said that he had taken crank (meth), the prosecutor said.

Lachica denies felony assault on a police officer. He is described as 5 feet 9 inches tall and 192 pounds in Sheriff’s records, and has been held in lieu of $30,000 bail since the incident, 170 days ago. Lachica has a prior arrest for three misdemeanors: vandalism over $400 in value, obstruct officer, and public intoxication.

Trial continues this week, before Honorable judge Sim von Kalinowski, in department 26 of San Diego’s North County Courthouse in Vista, California.

The latest copy of the Reader

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

Will Trump’s Baja resort be built after all?

Long-stalled development sparks art exhibit, gets new life
Next Article

Time’s up for Doubletime Recording Studio

Owner Jeff Forrest is trading El Cajon for Portugal
Joshua Lachica has been held in lieu of $30,000 bail since the incident, 170 days ago.
Joshua Lachica has been held in lieu of $30,000 bail since the incident, 170 days ago.

A jury trial started this week, on November 26, for a young man who allegedly punched an Oceanside police officer while naked and high on meth.

American Deluxe Barbershop

The attorney for Joshua Adams Lachica, 26, suggested that officers threatened him first by displaying a taser and a metal baton, while the young man was minding his own business on a seaside sidewalk, the night of June 7.

A short video clip, reportedly uploaded to Instagram, has been shown over and over, and in slow motion, for the jury.

It was only five months ago when Lachica allegedly came into the American Deluxe Barbershop on North Coast Highway, not wearing any clothes, and seated himself in one empty chair and began talking to himself. Three Marines who were in the barbershop getting fresh haircuts noticed the man’s long hair and incoherent conversation; they also remarked on his nakedness, in their testimony this week.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The Marines had intended to eat at Chronic Tacos next door, after they paid for their haircuts, but the naked man had come outside and was blocking their path; they walked around the block. When the Marines got back to the same spot, police were on scene and trying to converse with Lachica, according to witnesses.

A police officer testified that they got there about 8:20 pm, and that the busy farmer’s market which happens Thursday nights in Oceanside was only a block away. The cop said she expected a lot of foot traffic when it closed at 9 pm, and was concerned for everyone’s safety.

A bystander got cell phone video of Lachica charging officers and punching one cop in the head and kicking another officer after he was taken to the ground, according to prosecutor Joshua Brisbane. A short video clip, reportedly uploaded to Instagram, has been shown over and over, and in slow motion, for the jury.

Defense attorney Wil Rumble suggested that officers used excessive force.

After the confrontation, Lachica was being transported to hospital with bruises and swelling on his legs when he allegedly said that he had taken crank (meth), the prosecutor said.

Lachica denies felony assault on a police officer. He is described as 5 feet 9 inches tall and 192 pounds in Sheriff’s records, and has been held in lieu of $30,000 bail since the incident, 170 days ago. Lachica has a prior arrest for three misdemeanors: vandalism over $400 in value, obstruct officer, and public intoxication.

Trial continues this week, before Honorable judge Sim von Kalinowski, in department 26 of San Diego’s North County Courthouse in Vista, California.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

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

Mang Tomas, banana ketchup barred in San Diego

What will happen to Filipino Christmas here?
Next Article

Aaron Bleiweiss: has guitar, has traveled

Seattle native takes Twists and Turns to assemble local all-stars
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