SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Nearly three months later, La Mesa security guards in Tijuana custody on gun charges have spoken out for the first time.
Jackie Anderson spent his lunch break on the phone.
“Son, I’ve been really looking forward to your call,” Anderson said after answering a call from his son, Rodney Dantzler, Jr., 28.
“It eased my mind just a little bit,” said Anderson.
On March 23, Danzler, a private security guard, left work and took Interstate 5 to a friend’s house in Chula Vista.
He missed the exit and arrived at the border, where he applied for a U-turn, but was denied permission.
Mexican authorities arrested him on firearms charges after he found a gun in his trunk that was legal in the United States.
“I was shocked and confused,” Danzler said.
From Tijuana Prison, Danzler told ABC 10News that he was transferred to an American cell wing and is being treated with respect.
“I try to put God first. I try not to break or break. I just want to go home,” Danzler said.
Danzler says she can do strength training and read. He and other inmates made UNO cards out of packages of noodles.
“Every night I think about my family, my son… I keep my head high and pray every night,” Danzler said.
Danzler’s family Go Fund Me Campaign Last month and recently I was able to hire a lawyer in Mexico. The lawyer requested a video of the arrest. A court date is scheduled for next week.
Danzler hopes to be released sooner or later.
“We are praying for it at the end of this month, sometime this month,” Danzler said.
A tense match is felt on both sides of the border.
“I know he’s worried, but I’m worried too. We’re all just worried about getting him back home,” Anderson said.