The body of a man was found by passersby this morning in Chula Vista.
The deceased is believed by police and neighbors to be in his mid-thirties and not a resident of the area.
Chula Vista police Sgt. Kenny Heinz said the police were called around 8:55 a.m. after passersby found the body of a male on the ground in between an apartment building and Butler’s Automotive on Church and G Street.
Heinz said the cause of death is still undetermined but may have been from a fall off the roof of the auto body shop.
A male tenant who lives in the top floor of the apartment complex, who did not want his name published, said that sometimes people go on the roof of the auto body shop, using it as a patio to drink and smoke cigarettes.
The man said he fell asleep around midnight after dinner and a movie with his girlfriend and friends Thursday night.
“Last night around midnight I was falling asleep and I heard a loud bang,” he said. “I knew someone hit something metal. Then I heard someone say, ‘Sorry about that.’”
Next he heard stumbling around, as if someone was drunk and then he heard someone say they were looking for Mike.
He was woken up around 8:30 a.m. this morning by the noise from walkie-talkies and a female officer knocking on his door.
He moved into the apartment less than a month ago and doesn’t know the deceased.
While Chula Vista crime scene investigators were taking pictures, relatives were being notified by the police, who were waiting for the medical examiner to arrive.
Sandra Diaz, who lives in the alley a few houses from the auto body shop, said that she and her husband discovered the body.
Diaz said the deceased was wearing a T-shirt and shorts and tennis shoes.
The deceased was found with a grocery bag next to him and he was believed by neighbors to be intoxicated.
“It definitely looks like he fell” Diaz said. “It looks like he smacked his face pretty good and his arm was bent back, like he didn’t have time to put them out in front of him.”
