Man accused in machete attack pleads not guilty

SAN DIEGO (CNS) – A man accused of attacking a group of people with a
machete after he was thrown out of a Normal Heights bar pleaded not guilty
Tuesday to charges of assault with a deadly weapon and misdemeanor possession of
a stun gun.

Rodney Jamal Jones, 29, who had been on probation for possession and
transportation of cocaine, was ordered held without bail.

According to police, Jones began quarreling with a couple and their male
friend at the Triple Crown Pub on Adams Avenue about 1 a.m. last Friday.

The argument reportedly began after Jones stared at the 23-year-old
woman, followed her to a restroom, blocked her way and grabbed her thigh as she
was returning to her companions, then sat next to her and refused her request
to leave her alone, said Lt. Andra Brown, a San Diego Police Department
spokeswoman.

“He said, `I'll look at you all I want,”' Brown said.

As the confrontation escalated, a bouncer intervened, questioned the
bickering patrons and ejected Jones, she said.

About 20 minutes later, the couple and their friend left the tavern and
walked to a residential complex in the 4600 block of Bancroft Street, about a
block to the south.

As they arrived, Jones suddenly appeared and allegedly charged them,
swinging a machete. The woman's boyfriend grabbed the blade of the weapon, and
he and his male friend tackled Jones and held him down until police arrived,
Brown said.

The defendant was treated at a hospital for minor injuries he suffered
in the scuffle. The woman's boyfriend was left with a gash on the palm of one
of his hands but declined medical care, Brown said.

Judge David Szumowski scheduled a readiness conference for Nov. 3 and a
preliminary hearing for Nov. 7.

Jones faces eight years and six months in state prison if convicted,
said Deputy District Attorney Kristie Nikoletich.