SAN FRANCISCO—San Francisco resident Santino Aviles, 41, has been acquitted of robbery and other felony charges following a defense that argued he was in a meth-induced psychosis at the time of his alleged crimes.
Per Aviles’ defense, he was in a deluded state of mind when he broke into a Mission District apartment he believed to be a spaceship. Gaining access to the building through the roof, Aviles climbed through the window of the apartment seeking refuge from the imminent destruction of planet earth.
Aviles then napped on the residents’ couch and remained in a state of psychosis when he awoke. Delusional, he grabbed an exercise ball and hurled it down the building’s fire escape, believing the exercise equipment to be a vessel he would use to float about the galaxy.
When the residents of the apartment discovered Aviles inside their home, a scuffle broke-out in which the male resident came after the intruder with a baseball bat. The man sustained a toe injury in the confrontation and Aviles sustained a black eye and other bruising.
The man then dialed 911, prompting a response from officers that arrested Aviles at the scene.
Supporting his claim of psychosis was a videotaped police interrogation in which Aviles repeatedly mutters about spacecraft and the impending explosion of earth. Due to the circumstances, the 41-year-old has only been convicted of misdemeanor battery and assault.
