What began as an armed robbery in Pacific Beach on April 8 evolved into a police chase that ended with one male suspect allegedly committing suicide and a female suspect being taken into custody. Investigators said the incident unfolded when Brian Marino, 24, of Westminster, Colo., entered the Radio Shack store on Garnet Avenue at 12:25 p.m. and began to gather up items. When a store employee confronted him, Marino reportedly pulled a gun and fled with the items in a red Mazda bearing Colorado license plates. A citizen quickly pointed out the fleeing suspect to San Diego Police Department motorcycle officer Greg Lindstrom, a 19-year police veteran. Lindstrom followed the car through the streets of Pacific Beach. At the intersection of Ingraham Street and Thomas Avenue, Marino fired a round of gunshots at Lindstrom, according to police officials. Marino then fired on Lindstrom two more times before parking the car at a lot in the 3700 block of Sports Arena Boulevard near Phil’s BBQ and fleeing on foot with the handgun, investigators allege. A female passenger, identified as Chantel Lister, 23, of Colorado, who police said had previously been undetected in the vehicle, fled in a different direction. Lindstrom chased Marino but apparently lost sight of him behind a building. Lindstrom told investigators he heard a single gunshot and discovered Marino lying on a sidewalk with a bullet wound to his head. Paramedics pronounced Marino dead at the scene at 12:40 p.m., according to investigators. The county Medical Examiner’s Office has ruled the cause of death to be suicide. Lindstrom was not injured during the incident, although his motorcycle was struck twice by gunfire. Lister was arraigned in court April 12 and charged with robbery. She is being held at the Las Colinas Women’s Detention Facility on $100,000 bail, according to Lt. Kevin Rooney with the police department’s Homicide Unit. Marino reportedly had a history of criminal activity. On the same day as the armed robbery in Pacific Beach, police in Arvada, Colo. issued a warrant for his arrest on suspicion of attempted murder, Rooney said.
