Man Arrested for Killing Near Imperial Beach

A San Diego man was in custody Tuesday on suspicion of having stabbed a 55-year-old homeless man to death on an agricultural property near Otay Valley Regional Park a mile or two from Imperial Beach, police said.

Hector Molina, 58, was arrested about 45 minutes after the fatal stabbing occurred in the 2800 block of Main Street Monday afternoon, according to Chula Vista police.

Officers were called to the 2800 block of Main Street at 3:37 p.m. and found the victim bleeding and with no pulse. Paramedics attempted unsuccessfully to revive him and he was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

A witness gave officers a description of the assailant, saying he fled in a red pickup.

"The witness wrote the suspect vehicle's license plate number in the dirt," police said in a statement.

Using the license plate number, officers went to a house in the 2100 block of Clairton Place, where the pickup was registered, and saw Molina exit the house, get into the vehicle and drive away, police said. 

He was arrested during a traffic stop in the 1600 block of Hollister Street near Southwest High School in the Nestor neighborhood of San Diego a short time later.

The motive for the slaying was under investigation.

The victim had apparently served as a caretaker at the strawberry fields where he was killed, police said, noting he was attacked as he stood next to the van that he lived in. His name were withheld pending next of kin notification.

City News Service contributed to this report.