Standoff briefly closes Palomar Observatory

By: KEN MA - Staff Writer | Friday, March 12, 2004 10:12 PM PST ∞

PALOMAR MOUNTAIN ---- An armed man who told police he was suicidal remained in the woods atop Palomar Mountain late Friday after a fruitless search by dozens of law enforcement officers.

Officers searched in helicopters and on foot for Eugene Brustowicz, 36, of San Diego, after he led them on a car chase from Murrieta that ended near Palomar Mountain Observatory.

The pursuit began shortly before 4:36 a.m. when Murrieta police officers went to a home to check on a man believed to be suicidal, authorities said. When they arrived, Brustowicz, wanted on a felony warrant for a recent domestic violence incident in San Diego, got inside his pickup and fled, Saunders said.

The California Highway Patrol took over when Brustowicz's truck entered southbound Interstate 215, south of the Murrieta Hot Springs Road exit, said CHP Officer Phil Konstantin.

Brustowicz called the California Highway Patrol several times during the chase, saying he wanted to be left alone, and that his life was bad because he had cancer and an ulcer, Konstantin said.

Sheriff's spokesman Chris Saunders said Brustowicz, who also talked to sheriff's crisis negotiators, told the CHP he wanted to commit suicide by having law enforcement officers shoot him.

Brustowicz led officers along the freeway and down city streets before he ended up on eastbound Highway 79, Konstantin said. He got off the highway and took a dirt road on the north side of Palomar Mountain before CHP officers could put out a spike strip.

Brustowicz ditched his 1998 white Chevy pickup truck in an area of the observatory known as High Point.

He was believed to be armed with a long-range rifle, Saunders said. A rifle case was found inside his truck, but no weapon was discovered during the search.

"He is an experienced hunter and knows the area well," Saunders said.

Both the observatory and Palomar Mountain School, home to 13 students from kindergarten to the eighth grade, were closed Friday.

Twenty employees of the observatory ---- owned by Caltech ---- and several astronomers remained in the park near a mobile sheriff's command center during the search.

"I hope it ends soon," said Scott Kardel, the observatory's spokesman, as law enforcement officers crawled on top of the white, domed building to scan the area below.

Sheriff's deputies and CHP officers called off the search about 1:15 p.m. after they decided that Brustowicz was probably not going to harm anyone but himself.

"At no time during this incident had the subject demonstrated any direct threat or risk to officers or citizens," said Saunders.

As the afternoon waned, several deputies were left to monitor the High Point area, but the 2,000-acre observatory area was reopened to visitors when the search was called off. Recreation enthusiasts and other visitors to the park were turned away in the morning. The park is open 7 days a week from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Friday was not the first time Brustowicz has had a brush with the law.

He was involved in a 12-hour standoff with San Diego police on Feb. 25, police Detective Gary Hassen said. Brustowicz was arrested after the standoff in the Normal Heights neighborhood in San Diego. Police and SWAT team members were called to the apartment at 4755 Wilson Ave., which Brustowicz shared with his ex-girlfriend, after he had fired a round from a handgun into the floor, San Diego police Detective Hassen said.

After a lengthy negotiation period, Brustowicz surrendered and was arrested, the detective said. He was charged with assault with a deadly weapon, using a weapon in a rude and threatening manner, making terrorist threats and battery on a cohabitation resident but was released from Central Jail after he posted bail.

During Friday's search, a body of another man was found inside a car parked within 100 yards of the observatory's entrance, the sheriff's spokesman said. It appeared the man had committed suicide several weeks ago, and was unrelated to the Brustowicz case, Saunders said.

Contact staff writer Ken Ma at (760) 761-4408 or kma@nctimes.com.