SPRING VALLEY, Calif. (KGTV) — Friday, vendors remembered a man assaulted to death near the spring Valley Swap Meet.
The San Diego County Sheriff's Department said 61-year-old Richard Johnson suffered trauma to his head after an alleged altercation with a man Thursday.
"This incident happened near a storage area in the overflow dirt parking lot of the Spring Valley Swap Meet," the department said.
Mayra Ramirez who runs a business at the swap meet said Johnson was the heart of the operation.
"Great person, hard worker, responsible, considerate," she said describing Johnson.
She said Johnson ran the place and always took care of vendors.
"When we first started he was a person that would help in any way he could," she said.
Ramirez's daughter said Johnson showed just as much compassion to people experiencing homelessness camping nearby.
"At the end of the weekend, they'll [homeless people] come to collect clothes that everyone throws away and that people don't want and he allows them to come in and take whatever they need and whatever they want," her daughter said.
Ramirez said she was heartbroken to find out about Johnson's sudden death.
"It's a shock because he's someone that we see every weekend," she said.
Deputies arrested 31-year-old Mauricio Juarez, who was seen allegedly fighting with Johnson.
Authorities are still investigating what led to the fight and if Johnson and Juarez knew each other.
Meanwhile, Ramirez said the swap meet will never be the same without Johnson.
"He's known all of us for years. It wasn't just him and the people. It's him, the people, our kids, our grandkids," she said.
