Monica Coates called 911 Monday morning to report that her estranged husband had allegedly crashed his pickup into their Bay Park home.
She had recently secured a restraining order against the man, following what she described in court records as paranoid behavior and a frightening encounter that ended with him being involuntarily hospitalized.
But by the time police arrived at the house eight minutes later, the 61-year-old woman was dead, according to San Diego police. Officers found a small fire roaring inside the home, and both the victim and her husband had burn injuries, police said.
Stephen Coates, 62, was taken to a hospital and placed under arrest on suspicion of murder in the death of his wife, San Diego police said Tuesday. The extent of his injuries was not released.
The deadly incident unfolded quickly beginning about 7:38 a.m. at the home on Dakota Drive at Fontana Avenue. Several neighbors also called 911 to report the crash, and one neighbor reported hearing screams coming from inside the home after the collision, said San Diego police homicide Lt. Chris Tivanian.
When officers arrived minutes later, they called out to the residents inside, but no one answered, Tivanian said. They found Monica Coates dead in the master bathroom with severe burn injuries, he said. Her husband was also in the room with burn injuries.
Officers detained him and provided medical aid before he was transported to a hospital.
San Diego Fire-Rescue firefighters fully extinguished the blaze.
Homicide investigators determined Monica was alone when her husband allegedly drove the Toyota Tacoma into the home and started the fire, Tivanian said.
Authorities did not disclose what was used to start the fire. San Diego’s Metro Arson Strike Team is aiding in the investigation.
The county Medical Examiner’s Office will determine her cause of death.
Monica Coates sought a restraining order Oct. 14. According to court documents laying out her request, her husband had been “displaying paranoid ideas” for several days leading to Oct. 8, the date of an incident that prompted the request.
“My husband believes that I am conspiring with others to kill him,” she wrote in court documents, adding that her husband “perceives me as someone he needs to protect himself from.”
She wrote that on Oct. 8, he demanded she undress so he could inspect her body for evidence to support his accusations. She refused and he tried to take her phone before making off with her iPad after a struggle, saying he wanted the device because it contained evidence and names of people he believed she was conspiring with, according to the affidavit.
Coates also said her husband asked a friend if he should get a shotgun to protect himself from her.
Scared, she fled the home, returning the following day to pick up items, she wrote. But he tried to pat her down and followed her through the home, she said. Again, she fled.
A neighbor called, telling her “things have escalated,” and suggested she request the police Psychiatric Evaluation Response Team go to the home.
When she met a police officer at the home, they found that Stephen Coates had “booby trapped” the interior of the home with fishing line and bolted shut the mail slot in the front door, she alleged.
Stephen Coates was involuntarily hospitalized, his wife wrote. She said she sought the court order after learning “he is being released earlier than the doctor recommended and I am afraid for my safety because I have been told that Steve still thinks I am a threat.”
Her request for the court order also indicates he had previously destroyed property, including putting holes in the walls and closet. She said she was “worried he will do more in current mental state.”
On Dec. 1, she was granted a year-long restraining order as well as an order that her husband move out of their home.