Men Facing Beach-Riot Charges Appear In Court

SAN DIEGO — Two men charged in connection with the Labor Day riot at Pacific Beach will soon be headed to trial, NBC 7/39 reported. NEW Video Surfaces.

Santee resident Andrew Terrel, 20, and Ricardo Guzman, 23, of San Diego are among eight people now charged in the incident. Both appeared in court on Thursday.

Terrel is charged with making threats on an officer and assault. He is accused of throwing four to five cans at officers and allegedly threatening officers with a horseshoe stake.Guzman is also accused of assault on a peace officer and resisting arrest. Guzman allegedly threw a full can of beer at officers.NBC 7/39 obtained new video recently from a person on the beach that day. The video shows the scene from a different angle.Soon after the incident, beachgoers suggested to NBC 7/39 that the police were indiscriminate with pepper spray the day of the incident. Others said they believed police used excessive force in dealing with some of the rowdy people on the beach.For their part, however, police painted a much different picture, saying that they were outnumbered and surrounded. They said they used tactics that they have been trained to use.”When we have officers on the sand and those people start surrounding the officers, and they’re taking projectiles and bottles, then that becomes a really a dangerous situation for the officers,” said San Diego police spokeswoman Mónica Muñoz. Kenneth Warkocki, 32, of Gig Harbor, Wash., pleaded not guilty on Sept. 6 to assault on a police officer and resisting arrest. He is accused of throwing a can of beer at officers, according to the city attorney’s office.Five other defendants are due in court in October in connection with the case.