SAN DIEGO (CNS) — A man executed a parking valet outside a downtown San Diego hotel at the onset of a shooting rampage last year that left four other people wounded, a prosecutor said Thursday, while a defense attorney said his client is an innocent man who has been wrongfully identified as the shooter.
Travis Fereydoun Sarreshteh, 34, who faces charges that include murder and attempted murder for allegedly shooting several people in the Gaslamp Quarter on the night of April 22, 2021.
Prosecutors say the shootings began at around 10:30 p.m. with Sarreshteh allegedly killing 28-year-old parking valet Justice Boldin in front of the Pendry San Diego Hotel, where the victim worked.
Sarreshteh then walked north on Fifth Avenue where he encountered a group of people in front of Gaslamp Pizza and started shooting, striking four people, prosecutors contend. One of the victims was struck in the back, while two others suffered gunshot wounds to their arms.
A fourth man, who was not part of the group targeted in front of the pizzeria, suffered an apparently inadvertent gunshot to his abdomen.
Sarreshteh was followed by a pair of bystanders who tackled him and kept him subdued until police officers arrived, according to the prosecutor.
Deputy District Attorney Jessica Paugh jurors Thursday in her opening statement that the shooting was spurred by Sarreshteh's break-up with his girlfriend earlier in the day. She said the relationship was the "only thing he had going on in his life."
"If he had nothing, he was going to take everything from anyone he chose," Paugh said.
The prosecutor said Sarreshteh had no connection to any of the victims of what appears to be a series of unprovoked attacks.
Paugh said Boldin did not interact with the gunman in any way before he was shot.
After Boldin's death, Sarreshteh passed by a group of European tourists who he demanded salute him, she said. When one of them did, Paugh said he "let them live."
When he approached the group of men in front of Gaslamp Pizza, Paugh alleged the shooter demanded the group get out of his way. When some members of the group laughed, Paugh said the shooter asked, "Are you laughing at me?" then opened fire until his gun jammed.
After he was tackled and arrested near Fifth Avenue and Market Street, Paugh said a gun was found in his waistband. His DNA was on the gun and a magazine, and gunshot residue was found on his hand, the prosecutor said.
Sarreshteh's defense attorney, Andre Bollinger, said investigators operated with "tunnel vision" when they honed in on his client as the gunman.
Bollinger said Sarreshteh was wearing similar clothing to the shooter and was walking in the Gaslamp that night, near where his then-girlfriend lived.
But he said video evidence the prosecution is relying upon did not accurately track the shooter's movements and it cannot be deduced from the videos that Sarreshteh was the man seen shooting people in the footage.
He also said witnesses were likely to testify that they believe Sarreshteh was the gunman, but Bollinger said he expected their descriptions of the shooter to be vague and uncertain.
"In the midst of a chaotic and confusing situation, the wrong man was captured," Bollinger said. "The killing of Mr. Boldin and the shooting of all these individuals is a tragedy and it's something that the shooter needs to be held accountable for. But what's just as important is that the wrong man's not convicted."
Sarreshteh remains in custody without bail.
