Body in Truck ID'ed; Autopsy Inconclusive

Pathologists who examined the body of a 34-year-old y couldn't establish a cause of death. Meanwhile, a renter the man fought with moments before dying was behind bars on an unrelated drug charge, officials said Tuesday.

The autopsy on John Kristopher Altamirano was "inconclusive,'' Orange County Sheriff's Department spokesman Jim Amormino said.

The coroner ordered toxicology tests, but results may not be available for several weeks, Amormino said.

Altamirano got into a fistfight with Kenneth Raney Lamb, 46, about 1 p.m. in the 27000 block of Avenida Armijo, where Lamb was renting living space in Altamirano's garage, Amormino said.

Shortly after the fight, Altamirano climbed into his pickup truck, where he was found dead Monday afternoon, Amormino said. Authorities said they didn't know who started the fight or why.

Lamb was picked up by sheriff's deputies Monday afternoon at a bus stop near La Paz Road and Pacific Park Drive in Laguna Niguel, questioned, then arrested on a drug-related warrant, Amormino said.

He was also treated at a hospital Monday for a cut over his eye, Amormino said. He was jailed in lieu of $1,500 bail, records showed.