A man who set fire to Gossip Grill has been sentenced to four years and eight months in state prison because he dropped out of his drug treatment program and committed new crimes in Hillcrest.
A judge warned Ryan Scott Habrel, now 39, in January that he could face four years in prison if he stopped taking his medication and dropped out of his program while on probation.
Habrel did not return back to Gossip Grill on University Avenue after he was released from jail in January, but he did go back to the Rite Aid drug store at 535 Robinson Ave. in Hillcrest where he committed more vandalism.
Moe Girton, the owner of Gossip Grill, was a supporter of Habrel’s previous drug rehabilitation sentence. She couldn’t be reached for comment about his prison sentence.
Habrel was ordered to pay her $5,849 for damages in the Oct. 20, 2023, incident. Habrel worked at Urban MO’s in the past and Girton spotted him at Gossip Grill the same day he set fire to it with a stolen lighter in several locations.
Habrel is eligible for parole in October 2025, according to the Calif. Department of Corrections. He was transferred to a men’s prison on Soledad Prison Road in Soledad, Calif. on Aug. 6, records show.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Polly Shamoon ordered Habrel to pay $1,978 to Rite Aid for damages to an exterior glass door and broken glasses in a Feb. 29 incident. He still owes them $3,232 from when he broke 10 champagne bottles in 2023.
The manager of Rite Aid said the store is concerned about future contact with Habrel “if he does not get help” since he has caused damages in his two visits there, according to his probation report. A worker said Habrel got angry at them when they didn’t let him use the bathroom.
Habrel was also charged with vandalism at Huapangos restaurant on 5th Avenue in Hillcrest on March 7. The owner told investigators that Habrel came inside, picked up a flowerpot, and threw it through a large exterior glass window, his probation report said.
The restaurant owner decided not to seek restitution as his damages were estimated at $3,000. “He wished more could be done to help people with mental health and substance abuse issues. He could tell the defendant was suffering,” the owner was quoted as saying in the report.
The vandalism charges involving Huapangos were dismissed when Habrel pleaded guilty to the new vandalism charges at Rite Aid.
Habrel made no statement to the probation department this time, but previously he said “My brain was fried from smoking that stuff.”
Shamoon gave him credit for serving 421 days in jail which includes time after his 2023 arrest.
