Brawl at Sola and San Andres Leads to Two Arrests

Two young men were arrested on March 28 in connection with a fight the evening before at Sola and San Andres streets. The incident disrupted the relative calm that has broken out around the county since Governor Gavin Newsom’s shelter-in-place order on March 19.

Several Westside residents had called 9-1-1 on Friday at around 5:30 p.m., reporting many men were fighting with each other, apparently using some improvised weapons. The corner was clear when police arrived, but an injured person was found several blocks away, and Cottage received a second victim; both had stab wounds. On Saturday, two other individuals were booked into County Jail on conspiracy and attempted murder charges, with gang enhancements. Christian Menth, 22, and Miguel Ascencio, 18, are each held on $600,000 bail.

Calls to police dispatch are otherwise 24 percent fewer compared to this time last year, said police spokesperson Anthony Wagner. Sheriff Bill Brown gave a similar report last week during a COVID-19 update to reporters. Calls for service were down 28 percent, he said, with 42 arrests the weekend of March 21-22 compared to 130 normally. Around the county, however, domestic calls had seen an uptick, Brown said.