Crime & Safety

An Area School Principal is Scheduled to Face Arraignment

Rachel Yolanda Escobedo, principal at Lee Elementary School in Paradise Hills, is accused of possessing illegal drugs and a stolen gun, authorities said.

An elementary school principal accused of having illegal drugs and a stolen gun in the trunk of a parked car is scheduled to be arraigned today at the downtown courthouse.

Rachel Yolanda Escobedo -- the principal at Lee Elementary School in Paradise Hills -- was arrested in the Rolando Park area on Sept. 7, according to San Diego police. She is a resident of neighboring La Mesa.

Shortly before 8:30 that evening, an officer responding to a report of a suspicious vehicle in the 6800 block of Missy Court found the 45-year-old Escobedo sitting in her parked 1993 Honda Accord with a 60-year-old man, SDPD public-affairs Lt. Kevin Mayer said.

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The patrolman spotted an open vodka bottle inside the vehicle and a small amount of what turned out to be marijuana in an ashtray, the lieutenant said.

After getting permission to search the car from Escobedo, who was in the driver's seat, the officer allegedly found a loaded .22-caliber pistol in the trunk, along with about two dozen prescription pills that appeared to be hydrocodone and four small baggies containing a white crystalline powder, Mayer said.

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The apparent drugs were submitted for lab testing, he said, adding that a computer check showed that the handgun had been reported stolen.

Escobedo was taken into custody without incident on suspicion of illegally possessing a loaded firearm and controlled substances. Her companion, whose relationship to her was unclear, was released.

The educator posted $25,000 bail the next day. She was suspended Sept. 10.

-- City News Service


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