GANGLAND GODFATHER

Man was stabbed to death yesterday in an apparent gang attack, San Diego police said. Police identified the man as Francisco Nava, 24. The stabbing initially was reported as a shooting at 2:45 p.m. on Olivewood Terrace near Logan Avenue in Mountain View, said Sgt. David Jennings. Officers arrived a minute later and found a man with a stab wound lying near a sidewalk, homicide Lt. Kevin Rooney said. Paramedics took Nava to a hospital. He was pronounced dead at 3:15 p.m. Detectives determined that Nava and several friends were on Olivewood Terrace when suspected gang members yelled gang challenges at them. One in the group confronted Nava and stabbed him, witnesses told police. Police did not release a description of the assailant and said it was unclear whether he had run off, or had driven away.

Tuan Tran, 50, apparently switched jail wristbands with an inmate who was scheduled to be bailed out of custody, and he was mistakenly released from the George Bailey Detention Facility on Oct. 9, sheriff's Sgt. Russ Moore said. Moore said information was not released earlier because Tran is not considered a threat and authorities wanted to pursue other options to locate him. Tran swapped wristbands with an inmate who has the same last name and same physical description. When the bail was posted, Tran was released instead of the correct inmate. Authorities realized what happened a few hours later, when the mother of the man who was supposed to be released called the jail asking where her son was, Moore said. Authorities say Tran is believed to be in the San Diego area. He was in custody awaiting sentencing on burglary and fraud convictions. He is described as Vietnamese, about 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighing 140 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.