Missing pilot lands safely

The pilot of an experimental plane with engine trouble north of Ramona landed safely in a field Monday evening, a sheriff's official said.

The pilot, from Alpine, called his wife about 7:30 p.m. to say he'd made an emergency landing and caught a ride away from the spot, sheriff's Lt. Hope Andrews said. She did not know where the plane landed.

Sheriff's deputies and a sheriff's helicopter crew had searched the rough terrain north of Ramona after 5 p.m. when another pilot reported hearing a distress call from the experimental plane pilot, who was reporting engine trouble.

One trapped in Imperial Avenue crash

One person is unconscious and trapped inside a pickup that knocked over a fire hydrant on Imperial Avenue near San Jacinto Drive in Valencia Park, San Diego police said.

The crash occurred about 10:05 p.m. The broken hydrant is sending a water geyser 40 to 50 feet in the air, police said.

No information is available yet on how the crash happened. The pickup struck a utility pole and the hydrant. Paramedics are trying to free the trapped driver and police have blocked the street.

2nd San Diego shooting wounds two

Two men in the Emerald Hills area of southeastern San Diego were shot by gunmen in a gray Ford F150 pickup Monday night, police said.

Officers and paramedics found a 47-year-old victim near the scene at McHugh Street and Bollenbacher Street about 8:35 p.m. A second victim, 40, turned up at a hospital half an hour later. No other information is available.

Two shot in City Heights

At least two men were wounded in City Heights Monday night in what police said may have been a rolling shooting from one vehicle into another.

Gunfire was reported along Wightman Street near Shiloh Road at 7:40 p.m., San Diego police said. Officers stopped a vehicle with two wounded victims at Euclid Avenue and Marilou Road, about a mile and a half south of where they were shot.

One man, about age 30, was hit with pellets from a shotgun. The other man, about 20, was shot with a handgun.

Police found shell casings and shotgun wadding in different locations along Wightman Street, and a blood trail on Shiloh Road, indicating a possible third victim who has not been found. A gunman was reportedly in a large gray SUV with several other people. They may have had companions who drove away in a green pickup at the same time, with both vehicles heading west on Wightman.

Witness saw missing plane land

Authorities are trying to find the pilot who landed his aircraft at Montgomery Field in San Diego after he reported seeing an experimental aircraft make an emergency landing somewhere north of Ramona, the Sheriff's Department reports.

A sheriff's helicopter crew is trying to locate the downed plane, but darkness has fallen, the search area is vast "and there's absolutely nothing out there," said sheriff's Lt. Hope Andrews. "It's just rural, nothing around it."

Officials are trying to find the pilot who reported seeing the plane go down in hopes of narrowing the search, Andrews said.

Ramona airport informed Cal Fire dispatchers about 5:15 p.m. that an aircraft had taken off from there heading north, and did not return.

Small plane may be down near Ramona

A small plane may have gone down north of Ramona, authorities said, and a Sheriff's Department helicopter is en route to search the area.

The plane reportedly had engine trouble and made an emergency landing at 5:08 p.m., Sheriffs Lt. Hope Andrews said. It wasn't clear whether anyone had been injured, she said.

Feds find fault with city grant spending

San Diego failed to follow guidelines in how it spent millions of dollars in federal funding known as Community Development Block Grants, according to an new audit released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The audit found that the city failed to properly monitor grant-funded projects, resuting in "$1.8 million in ineligible and $11 million in unsupported costs."

CDGB money, by law, has to be spent according to strict criteria to eliminate blight and combat poverty in low-income neighborhoods.

San Diego receives about $15 million a year in CDBG grants.

Mayor Jerry Sanders' office said in a press release that the issues identifed in the audit have already been addressed, and that the projects that were examined by HUD as part of the audit were started under prior administrations.

Lakeside incident ends in apparent suicide

Deputies report that a body has been found inside a residence on Los Ranchitos Road near Los Ranchitos Street in Lakeside. A sheriff's sergeant confirmed that the unidentified woman had shot herself.

Several dozen residents had been kept out of the area for nearly three hours as deputies kept the block cordoned off after reports were received of a gunshot at the home and a despondent person inside. Deputies used a robot to search the house.

--Mark Arner

Lakeside standoff

Sheriff's deputies have surrounded a home on Los Ranchitos Road near Los Ranchitos Street in Lakeside, where deputies have a report of a despondent person. At least one gunshot has been heard from inside the residence. Los Ranchitos Road is closed for a half-block north of Los Ranchitos Street and residents are being kept out of the area. Firefighters and paramedics are at the home.

--Mark Arner

Torrey Pines rescue completed

The rescue in Torrey Pines near the Torrey Pines Municipal Golf Course has been completed, fire officials said. One person is going to be taken to a hospital. Rescuers said they searched the area and don't believe any other people were involved in the crash, a San Diego Fire-Rescue dispatcher said.

Emergency crews on the ground, as well as a fire department helicopter doing an infrared scan of the area, searched for other victims but found none, the dispatcher said.

Vehicle rescue in Torrey Pines

San Diego firefighters are trying to rescue two people who are trapped in a vehicle that crashed on Torrey Pines Road, about a mile north of the Torrey Pines Municipal Golf Course. One of the occupants was able to get out but the other two need help, a San Diego Fire-Rescue dispatcher said.

Lakeside fire caused up to $350,000 damage

An apartment fire in Lakeside late Sunday caused up to $350,000 damage, fire officials said Monday morning.

The 11:36 p.m. blaze in a complex on Laurel Street near Ashwood Street, was doused shortly after midnight, and caused at least $200,000 damage, according to a spokesman for the Lakeside Fire Protection District. Damage in the structure's attic has not yet been estimated, however, so it could have up to $350,000 damage, he said.

The cause of the fire is still being investigated.