LA Times writer Geoff Boucher was assaulted on the streets of San Diego:

I was walking alone to my hotel after late Saturday night interviews with Neal Adams and Darwyn Cook. I was also talking on my cell to Spencer Weiner, the photographer for The Times shooting Comic-Con. Spencer heard everything that happened next.

I (literally) bumped into a young guy walking with three friends in the Gaslamp Quarter. They were tattooed and wearing the street uniform of baggy pants, white T-shirts and shaved heads. The guy started mad-dogging me, rasping threats. I told him I was just walking by, no offense meant. He got in my face, and I told him it would be stupid for us to make something out of nothing.

“You calling me stupid?” “No, I’m not.” Then I stopped talking, because my mouth was bleeding. One of his buddies, standing off to my side, cold-cocked me, and the ring on his fist took a chunk out of my face. I never saw it coming. I was at the emergency room until dawn.


It’s extremely disturbing reading, and a reminder that as safe and friendly as San Diego’s lamplit streets may seem…they aren’t. I ALWAYS get a late night escort when I’m going home for the night, and this is why.

1 COMMENT

  1. Yeah, we made it our mission (unknowingly) to walk a lot of people back to their places when we could. I know up near the Radison, there’s actually a jail and some unsavory types lurking around trying to sell crack. (no kidding) For some reason, no one messes with us giant irish/german looking guys.

    I feel awful for Geoff though, there’s not much you can do when assholes are on the prowl like that. What a weak thing to do to cold cock a guy from the side. Cowards.

  3. I’m never taken part in the San Diego nightlife when I’ve attended the Con, so I ask those who do: Do you perceive much of a police presense downtown? Do they do stuff like foot patrols, or just the usual drive-by on the hour? Just curious. From Geoff’s unfortunate story, it sounds like they need to amp up the police presence in the problem areas.

  4. It’s cleaned up a lot over the past 20 years, but people forget downtown ‘Diego used to be full of hobos, prostitutes and drunken sailors.

    Now it’s angry drunken club kids. From what I’ve seen, the cops hang out in front of the clubs. If you take a side street anywhere at night, you’re pretty much on your own.

  5. I have heard reports of two other similar incidents, and in fact, on Friday night encountered a very angry man, screaming that he had just been jumped by six guys. He wasn’t obviously injured, but the adrenaline was clearly still rushing through his veins.

  6. I am not into violence, but i would love to get those guys and beat them with my baseball bat. I cant do it with my hands, because I need them to work…but that kind of crap just pisses me off.

    GEOFF, the good thing is that they probably will all get gangbanged in prison very soon.

    that has to be some kind of comfort…

    Jimmy Palmiotti

  7. the thing I remember from years ago (late 90s) is that I would come in on monday and tuesday and you could see a good number of homeless people between the hotels and the convention center. By Thursday, they had magically been removed/displaced/… elsewhere in town.

  8. My wife and I were attcked by two guys, nose broken neck crunched. Cops got one of them. A Morris agent was drugged and mugged. San Diego is officially a shithole

  11. That’s really suprising, downtown San Diego generally isn’t that dangerous. However the streets are totally crowded with drunken frat meat heads and military types after dark. Having grown up in SD I can say that at least it’s not like philly, where block to block you have to be careful where you are. One moment, safe urban atmosphere, one block over: it’s like the fucking thunderdome. Overturned cars on fire and crap.

  12. Jarrod:
    “… Having grown up in SD I can say that at least it’s not like philly, where block to block you have to be careful where you are. One moment, safe urban atmosphere, one block over: it’s like the fucking thunderdome. Overturned cars on fire and crap.”

    What part of Philadelphia were you walking through? Maybe during some of the riots of the 1960s … Otherwise, Philadelphia looks like a typical urban city … Heck, there was very little “activity” during the Rodney King blow-up. Certainly not like Thunderdome.