A panhandler who slashed the tire of a motorist on Garnet Avenue was released Jan. 7 from jail after getting credit for 97 days spent in detention, which included time off for good behavior. Rex Wayne Manley, 48, of Pacific Beach, was sentenced to 180 days, but the rest of the sentence was suspended pending successful completion of three years’ probation. He could have faced a three-year prison term. San Diego Superior Court Judge Robert O’Neill fined Manley $1,344. His probation will expire in 2018, and he could get more jail time if he violates probation terms. Manley told a probation officer he carried around a knife with him to use as a can opener and not as a weapon. He pleaded guilty Dec. 8 to possessing a concealed dagger used in a Sept. 16 incident when he stabbed the tire of a motorist during a rainstorm. Freelance writer Nicole Sours Larson wrote an account of the incident in Beach & Bay Press on Oct. 16, writing she ignored a panhandler trying to attract attention while holding a sign and flyers. She was waiting for a green light in order to turn from Garnet Avenue onto East Mission Bay Drive. Larson wrote she saw the man kneeling by her front left tire, jabbing at it, before he walked away. Another motorist signaled her to check her tire.
The tire was flattened, and her husband had to change it in the rain. Larson wrote she posted an account of what happened on social media site Nextdoor.com and was interviewed on KGTV Ch. 10. A KGTV reporter contacted police when he saw Manley, and he was arrested. Manley had been on probation for a previous misdemeanor, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and possession of drug paraphernalia. O’Neill ordered the probation terminated on that case, and Manley received credit for 73 days in jail.
–Neal Putnam