Man found by La Jolla hikers dies at hospital

By Dave Schwab

Staff Writer

A couple hiking the dirt walking path along the ocean bluffs north of La Jolla Cove about 1:30 p.m. on Saturday found an unconscious man on Prospect Street and called the fire department. He died later at Scripps Memorial Hospital.

“A 60-year-old male, conscious and breathing, was transported by Medic Ambulance Unit 9 to Scripps La Jolla,” said Maurice Luque, San Diego Fire-Rescue spokesman. “The call came in as a man down, no apparent visible injuries.”

San Diego Fire-Rescue spokesman Lee Swanson added that the man found at 7933 Prospect Place, “was in full (cardiac) arrest but they detected some activity, so they tried to bring him around and revive him. When they got to the hospital he was dead on arrival.”

The victim’s identity has not been released.

La Jollans Heather and Brent Eastty were walking near the end of the trail Saturday afternoon when they turned right on Prospect and, according to Heather, “we saw legs on the ground right on the sidewalk. … He was behind a bush and cars parked on the street. He had hit his head. Where he fell there was blood.”

The couple were disbelieving at first.

“My husband thought it was a Halloween joke, but then I bent down and saw that his eyes were clouded over: He was dead,” she said.

Heather Eastty said the man was well dressed and items that had been on his person including two gold-wrapped chocolate bars and a small black comb strewn near where he’d fallen.

Luque said Fire Engine 9 arrived on the scene in 3 minutes, 18 seconds followed by an ambulance at 5 minutes, 8 seconds.