Working out in San Diego brings surprising danger

San Diego County residents who regularly work out, you would think, would like to live a longer life. But recently, conditioning has been hazardous, as locals toning muscles have been the target of assaults. One exerciser was tragically murdered.

Consequently, more San Diegans who work out outdoors carry mace, a whistle, or walk or jog in groups to protect one another.

On October 7, dozens of women met up at Balboa Park with Monica Figueroa, founder of @sandiegogirlswhowalk, to trek in a large group. Figueroa has been organizing group walks in San Diego since before July, and their numbers keep growing — despite the city of San Diego and park rangers allegedly threatening to bust and fine the large group of trekkers. 

On one of Figueroa's previous podcasts, she said in part, "So if you're a girl in San Diego and you think it should be our right to walk in a group because there is safety in numbers. And you feel safer walking with other women because men are creepy and sexually harass you when you're walking alone. Then come join our walk on Sunday."

From the group sandiegogirlswhowalk

The San Diego County group now has almost 30,000 followers on Instagram, partly due to the other growing list of assaults happening to our innocent people who want to exercise outdoors in peace.

On September 15, Ian Farmer, a 41-year-old man, attacked a 73-year-old man while jogging by Greenfield Drive and Mollison Avenue in El Cajon, according to the El Cajon Police Department. Farmer allegedly demanded $5 from the jogger and threatened to tase him; he then grabbed the victim's arm, reaching for his wallet. "The man fought off his attacker and ran toward an apartment complex yelling for help," continues the police report. Farmer — "who is a registered sex offender and has a lengthy arrest history including theft, vandalism, domestic violence, and sex with a minor — ran after the elderly man until he realized the police were called, and then he ran away." Farmer was arrested shortly afterward.

About two weeks before the assault on the El Cajon jogger, another jogger was attacked and stabbed.

On September 2, an 80-year-old Vietnam War veteran was jogging early in the Bay Park neighborhood. David O'Brien of the San Diego Police Department reportedly said that the suspect shoved the jogger to the ground and stabbed him in the back of his neck, throat, and wrist. The veteran was then hospitalized and survived. There have been no updates on whether the perp was caught, but he was described by news outlets as a 30-35-year-old man, about 5 feet 9 inches in height, with long, straight hair. Also, at the time of the attack, the perp wore dark-colored pants and a jacket and was holding a skateboard.

In the surf, it's not safe either.

On July 23, Kyle Schmid was on the sand in Ocean Beach by Tower 5 just south of Dog Beach. From his vantage point, he said he saw another surfer surf over a girl paddling out. "She was immediately bleeding heavily from her head," he continued on the NextDoor app. "When she got to the beach, she was covered in blood down to her feet, and her boyfriend told me the man who did it yelled, 'You should’ve stayed out of the way,' and paddled away while they were rushing her to shore to get help."

To Schmid, it looked like the surfer had "full control of his board and aggressively turned at her and ran her over out of irritation," he recounted. "Then he threw up his hands and paddled north." Others on the app who said they witnessed the surf assault corroborated with Schmid and added that she needed staples to close the wound.

The family of Chi Cao is organizing a fundraiser.

On June 19, Chi Cao was exercising at Central Avenue Mini Park in City Heights when Silveinusi Hamala allegedly attacked and stabbed her, said the police. Cao died shortly after the random attack.

Last February, five women walking and jogging outdoors in the University Town Center neighborhood reportedly became victims of a sexual predator. One was assaulted in broad daylight, the San Diego police said.

Around the same time, Fernando, an 87-year-old man, was exercising, walking downtown by 5th Avenue and Broadway when suddenly and "unprovoked, he was violently attacked by a transient male," said Randy Rodriguez from Banker's Hill in a recent interview with me. "The transient threw Fernando so hard to the sidewalk that his spine was severely and permanently shattered. The doctors stabilized his back to a point, but they said he will never be the same." Rodriguez, Fernando's son-in-law, continued, "Fernando was an avid walker and would wake up every day at 5 am-6 am to go for long walks all around town. He would walk from Bankers Hill to Shelter Island and back some days. Many days, he walked 4-6 miles." But lately, Fernando has been bedridden, and he needs ongoing care.

The police made an arrest in Fernando's case.

"Thank you [San Diego Reader] for making folks aware of what is happening to our city and the lack of safety in the community," Rodriguez concluded. "It has been quite a traumatic experience and a long road for my father-in-law."