Man Sentenced For New Year's Old Town Train Station Slaying

SAN DIEGO, CA — A man who killed another man by pushing him into the side of a moving train at the Old Town Transit Center was sentenced Thursday to 15 years to life in state prison.

Ryan Michael Rukstelis, 27, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for the New Year's Day 2022 killing of 68-year-old Santee resident Martin Andara, who was heading to work at the time.
According to testimony from Rukstelis' preliminary hearing held last year, both men were passengers aboard a trolley that stopped at the Old Town station.

Rukstelis and Andara were in the same trolley car for about 30 minutes, but did not interact with one another during the trip. Surveillance footage played in court showed that after the trolley stopped at the station around 6:15 a.m., both men departed.

In the video, Rukstelis is seen walking ahead of Andara, then he suddenly turns and punches the victim, then pushes him into the side of the moving train. Andara's body was discovered by a security guard.

At his sentencing hearing, Rukstelis said, "I apologize for what I did. It was cowardly and I apologize for the grief that I've caused."

The victim's son, Adam Andara, was among several family members who addressed Rukstelis at Thursday's hearing.

"You murdered and took a man that was the rock in this family," Adam Andara told Rukstelis. "What you did has created a deep scar in this family. This is not the type of ending where there's forgiveness. I don't forgive you."

Deputy District Attorney Scott Pirrello said, "This case represents everyone's worst nightmare. Senseless, unprovoked violence that could have happened to anyone in this courtroom."

By analyzing surveillance footage at various train stations throughout the county, police were able to determine that Rukstelis was at a trolley station in Mission Valley just after 2:30 a.m. Jan. 1.

There, police say surveillance footage captured him attempting to remove the already-broken front panel of a soda machine.

San Diego police Detective Steven Choy said fingerprints were lifted from the inside of the soda machine panel. Seven of the 24 impressions found there matched Rukstelis, the detective testified.

Choy said photographs of Rukstelis from a law enforcement database were then compared to the surveillance footage of the suspect.

Investigators arrested Rukstelis at his mother's workplace three days after Andara's death.

Rukstelis had a backpack with him at the time of his arrest and inside it were a pair of pants and a shirt that Choy said appeared identical to the suspect's clothing. Rukstelis' DNA was also discovered on the victim's jacket, according to the detective.

— City News Service