Man Fatally Struck While Intervening In Fight Outside SD Apartment Complex: Police

SAN DIEGO, CA — A 46-year-old man was fatally struck in the head when he tried to break up a fight involving his nephew outside a Mt. Hope apartment complex in San Diego, police said Monday.

San Diego police responded to a report of a person down in the 3500 block of Island Avenue just before 11 p.m. Sunday, and officers found the victim lying on the ground suffering from blunt force trauma to his head, according to the San Diego Police Department.

Paramedics took the man to a hospital, where he later died.

Police said the victim had stepped outside his apartment to interrupt a fight among four men: his nephew, another resident of the complex and two other individuals. Police said the neighbor struck the victim at least twice with a blunt object before fleeing the scene in a vehicle.

The SDPD Homicide Unit was investigating the fatal assault -- interviewing witnesses and canvassing the area for security video. A description of the suspect was not immediately released.

Anyone with information regarding the fatal assault was asked to call the Homicide Unit at 619-531-2315 or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.