Suspect breaks into San Luis Obispo apartment, assaults woman

February 25, 2025

By KAREN VELIE

A 41-year-old man broke into a former girlfriend’s apartment and assaulted her in San Luis Obispo early Monday morning.

Shortly after 1 a.m., Brian Dill allegedly broke into his former girlfriend’s apartment and strangled her, before fleeing the unit. While the woman was on the phone with a 9-1-1 operator, Dill allegedly smashed an apartment window with a hammer.

Officers arrived to find Dill leaving the area with his vehicle lights off. However, officers lost the vehicle near Highway 101.

A few minutes later, the California Highway Patrol informed the San Luis Obispo Police Department the suspect’s vehicle had rammed a car on northbound Highway 101 at California Boulevard while the suspect waved an axe out a window.

A CHP officers located the car a few minutes later near Santa Rosa Park. Dill than ran from the vehicle, but the officer apprehended him.

Officers arrested Dill and booked him in San Luis Obispo County Jail on charges of corporal injury, burglary of an occupied residence, possession of a controlled substance with two priors and possession of paraphernalia. He remains in jail with his bail set at $100,000.