Judge commits woman to mental hospital after liquor store rampage

By Neal Putnam

A woman who went on a rampage at the Ramona Old Time Liquor store has been committed to a state mental hospital after a judge found she was not mentally competent to stand trial for felony vandalism.

Roslynn Tina Garcia, 25, will be taken to Patton State Hospital, and the ruling from San Diego Superior Court Judge Fred Maguire authorizes doctors to provide involuntary medication to her. If she regains her mental competency after being stabilized, she will be returned to El Cajon to stand trial.

She was evaluated by a psychologist on Sept. 27 in jail and the judge read the psychologist’s report before ruling on Oct. 14. Criminal proceedings were suspended against her on Aug. 30 after her attorney reported she might be mentally incompetent to stand trial.

Maguire’s order says Garcia can only be held at Patton for up to three years, as that is the maximum amount of time she faces if convicted at a trial.

Garcia is accused of felony vandalism in a July 20 incident in which $4,000 in damages occurred at the Main Street store. Deputy District Attorney Christopher Chandler said Garcia was angry, upset and intoxicated at the time.

She is also accused of misdemeanor battery upon the store owner, Peter Aboudi, and resisting an executive officer during an arrest, according to court records. Aboudi and a sheriff’s deputy testified in an Aug. 4 preliminary hearing in which she was ordered to stand trial.

Court records say she caused $3,000 in damages to a slushy machine and $1,000 in damages to a wine rack in which many bottles were broken. The vandalism charge is a felony because damages exceed $400.