Judge sets bail for OB murder suspect at $2 million

An attorney for an Ocean Beach murder suspect was successful in getting a judge to set bail for his client on Oct. 14, but the judge rejected a bid for $100,000 bail and instead set it at $2 million.

Attorney Brandon Roesler, who represents Andrew Phillip Restrepo, 33, asked San Diego Superior Court Judge John Pro to set aside the no bail figure for Restrepo. He said his family would help him with an “electronic monitoring” system with authorities on $100,000 bail.

Restrepo has pleaded not guilty to killing Sean Ellis Glenn, 34, in a May 10, 2023, incident in the 5000 block of Newport Avenue for which Restrepo was arrested in August of 2024.

Roesler said the victim had traumatic injuries to the back of his head when he was punched and his head hit the ground. Glenn was in a coma for three months in a hospital without waking up and died on Aug. 5, 2023.

Roesler said the correct charge is manslaughter but not murder because Restrepo had no malice or intent to kill. “It is a routine bar fight that occurred outside,” he added.

Roesler said Restrepo’s mother and sister were in the audience and added they would help him. He said Restrepo would continue working in a communications company if granted $100,000 bail. A $2 million bail figure is considered too high for Restrepo’s family.

Deputy District Attorney Jessica Sutterley said Restrepo “does have training” in martial arts. “He knocked two people unconscious,” she said.

Restrepo is also charged with injuring another man on a city bus in the Midway area just weeks earlier and that victim was also knocked unconscious, said the prosecutor.

“The defendant appears to like fist fighting,” said Sutterley, adding that one witness claimed to see him laughing after Glenn hit the ground and walked away. “His targets are random,” she said.

Sutterley said Restrepo has an incident in a Florida bar in which he punched someone in the face, and the San Diego incidents show “callousness.” She urged bail be set at $2 million.

His attorney told the judge Restrepo “was an amateur” in fighting.

Pro told the attorneys he was setting $2 million bail for “protection of the public,” considering one person was killed in one fight.

A preliminary hearing was set for Jan. 27, 2025. Restrepo remains in the South Bay Detention Facility.