Weekend roundup: Recovery, guns, power

Motocrosser making progress

Motocross racer Kyle Hutcheson, 16, was recovering from serious injury and surgery at Palomar Medical Center this weekend.

A sophomore at Fountain Hills High School in suburban Phoenix, Hutcheson wiped out at the California Classic, a major amateur motocross race held at Pala raceway last weekend. He was in fifth place when the horror began.

Kyle “just landed bad and his head went straight into the ground,” his father, Larry Hutcheson said. “His back took the impact and it blew his back out.”

Kyle Hutcheson with his bike at an event.

Kyle broke his back and was initially paralyzed from the waist down. He was transported to Palomar Medical Center where he underwent surgery to implant 14 screws and a titanium rod in his spine.

Kyle was making progress this weekend, his father said and has been able to walk some with the aid of back brace.

Walking again at Palomar Medical Center.

The Arizona Republic reported the Hutchesons were trying to arrange medical air transport to bring Kyle home, and to Barrow Neurological Institute nearby.

Kyle’s father has started a GoFundMe page to help pay for the expensive trip. The GoFundMe page at https://www.gofundme.com/kylehutcheson212 was doing well, with more than half of the requested $30,000 raised so far.

Kyle has been overwhelmed by the support he has received from the Fountain Hills community and fellow motocross racers, Hutcheson said, and was in good spirits despite the circumstances.

Guns, but no fun

Two men suspected of firing random gunshots as they drove down an Escondido street Saturday afternoon were arrested a few minutes later, police said.

Officers were investigating whether any cars or homes along South Tulip Street, near Seventh Avenue, were hit by gunfire. No people were wounded, police said.

Several areas residents called 911 about 2 p.m. to report hearing gunshots as the SUV traveled down the road. Witnesses described the vehicle to officers and a sheriff’s helicopter crew helped find the SUV a few blocks away, near Ninth Avenue, police said.

Officers pulled over the driver, and he and his passenger, both age 24, were arrested. Police found a .38-caliber revolver in the vehicle.

Power be out

More than 3,300 San Diego Gas and Electric Company customers were without power in the North County Saturday afternoon, according to SDG&E.

The areas affected by the outage included Escondido, Del Dios, Lake Hodges, the west side of Rancho Bernardo and the San Pasqual area.

Crews were working to determine what caused the electricity to fail shortly after 2 p.m. Although most customers regained power by 5 p.m., outages continued at Escondido, San Pasqual and El Cajon affecting 431 customers until around 9 p.m., according to SDG&E officials.