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Man accused of shooting off-duty deputy in Gaslamp taken into custody

A man who allegedly opened fire with a pistol last month during a scuffle with an off-duty sheriff's deputy near Petco Park, wounding the lawman and a bystander, was in custody Wednesday following ...
Man accused of shooting off-duty deputy in Gaslamp taken into custody

SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A man who allegedly opened fire with a pistol last month during a scuffle with an off-duty sheriff's deputy near Petco Park, wounding the lawman and a bystander, was back in the U.S. Tuesday following his capture in Mexico, authorities reported.

Ray Koloseta Pitoau, 37, was taken into custody about noon on the southern outskirts of Tijuana, according to the San Diego police Lt. Ernesto Servin.

The U.S. Marshal's Service worked with authorities in Mexico to locate and apprehend Pitoau, who was arrested without incident and deported to the U.S., where San Diego police detectives took custody of him, Servin said.

Pitoau has been booked on suspicion of two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and was being held in the San Diego County Jail, according to Servin.

Pitoau allegedly confronted a group of people, including three off-duty law enforcement personnel, about 1:15 a.m. Aug. 7, in the 500 block of Island Avenue in the Gaslamp Quarter and displayed a handgun.

One of the lawmen, Deputy Jason Philpot, tried to wrest away the weapon, and during an ensuing struggle it repeatedly discharged, wounding him three times in the shoulder, according to San Diego police. A man walking nearby was injured in the arm by an apparent stray round.

Following the gunfire, the assailant fled.

Philpot, an 11-year member of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, and the other victim were treated for non-life-threatening bullet wounds.

Two days later, police surrounded a Spring Valley home where Pitoau was believed to possibly be hiding out. Following a four-hour standoff, members of a SWAT team entered the Tarleton Street residence, discovering that the suspect was not there.

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