Helicopter rescues illegal immigrant off mountain

By Karen Kucher, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Wednesday, February 10, 2010 at 1:27 p.m.

A 28-year-old illegal immigrant suffering from hypothermia was rescued from halfway up Otay Mountain by a San Diego firefighting helicopter early Wednesday morning.

Copter 2 was called by Border Patrol agents about 3:30 a.m. to rescue the man, said San Diego Fire-Rescue Department spokesman Maurice Luque.

The man and a companion had crossed the border around 9 a.m. Tuesday and were trapped overnight in the rain, Luque said. The man’s friend hiked down the mountain and found some Border Patrol officers and then led them back up to show them his stricken friend.

The man was in “bad shapeâ€