Coroner probing death of PB man near OB Pier The San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office was planning to conduct an autopsy this week on the body of a Pacific Beach man whose nude body was found floating southwest of the Ocean Beach Pier on Saturday morning. While the cause of death has not yet been determined, the body of 34-year-old Lawrence Kenneth Booth was discovered by a fisherman near the terminus with Niagara Street shortly after 9 a.m. San Diego lifeguards responded to the scene, recovered the body and death was confirmed due to forming rigor. The death remains under investigation by police. — Kevin McKay

Brief outages leave about 4,600 in dark Unrelated to temperatures recorded on the hottest day of 2012 so far, roughly 4,600 San Diego Gas & Electric customers in La Jolla and Pacific Beach were left without power for several hours Aug. 12 after an outage was blamed on a failed connector between two cables, said an SDG&E official. The outage occurred about 5:15 p.m. and affected customers from Via Capri in La Jolla south to Pacific Beach and Mission Bay. The bulk of the power was restored by around 11 p.m., but a handful of customers were left without power until around 10:15 a.m. on Aug. 13, said the SDG&E spokesman. Other outages were reported in Ocean Beach and Point Loma on Aug. 12 as well. According to SDG&E records, however, it is unclear whether the second set of outages was related to the original case, said the spokesman. SDG&E officials are continuing to investigate the cause of the outage. — Kevin McKay

Checkpoint nets 16 drivers in Pacific Beach San Diego police said 16 arrests were made Aug. 11 during a DUI checkpoint in the 2400 block of Grand Avenue. According to police, 35 motorists were detained for further screening during the 10 p.m. to 2:45 a.m. checkpoint, leading to the impound of 17 vehicles. — Kevin McKay

‘Bird Rock Bandit’ is a no-show in court One of the so-called “Bird Rock Bandits,” Eric House, 25, failed to appear in court on Aug. 6, where he was scheduled to formally answer to misdemeanor charges for battery and violating a restraining order at his girlfriend’s Pacific Beach apartment in late June. After failing to appear in court for his arraignment, San Diego Superior Court Judge Eugenia Eyherabide issued a $30,000 bench warrant for his arrest. House and five other men, dubbed the Bird Rock Bandits, previously served time for their involvement in the second-degree murder of La Jolla surfer Emery Kauanui, 24, in 2007 after a street fight that led to the death of the professional surfer. In the case, House pleaded guilty to involuntary mans-laughter and was sentenced to three years in prison. He was released and placed on parole in January 2011. — Mariko Lamb