Crime & Safety

Man Who Fell off Santa Cruz Cliff May Have Been High on LSD

Nick Syed Husain, 22, of Fremont, who fell 25 feet to his death on West Cliff Drive, had served time for a 2009 bank robbery.

Nick Syed Husain, who died after falling 25 feet from a ledge off West Cliff Drive Monday evening, may have been on LSD, according to .

The 22-year-old Fremont man also had a conviction for robbing a Fremont bank in February 2009 for which he served nine months in jail. His robbery was covered nationwide and became a joke, because he wore a custom-made "Got Olives?" T-shirt that helped police track him down.

"Nick was kind of a down-and-out guy," said Sgt. John Harnett, who solved the bank robbery for Fremont police. "He also got in trouble with the Marines. He was a reserve, and I remember serving a search warrant on his house, and he had equipment taken from the Marines. We thought he would get in more trouble from them than from the bank robbery."

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Harnett said Husain came from a well-to-do family in the Mission Hills neighborhood of Fremont. However, his police record also included a drunk and disorderly charge at Coach's Bar on Fremont Boulevard on November 25, 2010, two months after getting out of jail on the bank robbery.

He was on probation then, and was apparently still on it when he died, said Harnett.

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Harnett said Husain robbed the Fremont Bank on Mission Boulevard by handing the teller a note demanding money. He walked away with $1,790. The detective tracked him from the "Got Olives?" T-shirt, which was given to volunteers at the Fremont Olive Festival. Husain had worked there and was identified by the shirt. A T-shirt company uses the Husain story on its website.

Husain pleaded guilty to the charge for a reduced sentence.

"Nick got a slap on the wrist," said Harnett.

Santa Cruz police arrested Husain's Fremont companions, Spencer Rigdon, 21, and Aubrey Lalumandiere, 18, for public intoxication after his death, at 5:48 p.m. Both were apparently under the influence of a hallucinogen like LSD, the police said, as was Husain.

In a press release, Santa Cruz police said the incident should remind students on spring break to be careful about what they consume.

Correction: A previous version of this article included a misspelled name. We regret the error.


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