San Diego police on Wednesday identified a man fatally shot last week in National City and also released the name of the undercover San Diego County Sheriff's deputy who fired at him.
Because of a cross-departmental agreement to investigate officer-involved shootings, San Diego police are handling the investigation.
The shooting took place last Friday afternoon around 2 p.m. near Mile of Cars Way in National City after a man bailed out of a car being followed by other, uniformed deputies.
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According to SDPD, the uniformed deputies were trying to stop a white Acura, which had three people inside when Gene Stewart, 46, of Lakeside jumped out of the car and fled on foot. At this point, deputies called in for backup from the National City Police Department.
A citizen in the neighborhood directed deputies to an area of a parking lot at a Dodge dealership nearby, where the man said he saw Stewart, a Lakeside resident, jump into a tow truck. As undercover deputy Douglas Akers, a 35-year veteran of the sheriff's department, approached the vehicle, investigators say, "it appears [Stewart] fired at least one round in the detective’s direction, shattering the passenger window of the tow truck and injuring the detective with shards of broken glass."
Akers then returned fire, hitting Stewart. An SDPD spokesman said on the day of the shooting that police pulled him out of the tow truck, where officers rendered aid, but Stewart died at the scene.
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After the incident, Akers was taken to UC San Diego Hillcrest Medical Center with what were described at the time as minor injuries.
San Diego police said they arrested the Acura driver, Dominic Dimaio, 29, and another passenger, Whitney Cowan, 36, on drug charges and for being "felons in possession of body armor."
Anybody with information about the incident is being urged to contact San Diego police at (619) 531-2293. Tips can also be called in anonymously to Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.
