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Surf City Teens Nearly Beat Man To Death With Skateboards
Four teens have been arrested for allegedly beating a man within an inch of his life with their skateboards at a laundromat on Friday night.
The fight started near the skate park at Murdy Park in Huntington Beach just before 8 pm, according to Huntington Beach police. Two groups of teens—as many as 40 altogether—were brawling, and a woman stepped in to try to break up the fight (it's not clear why she intervened: some news reports say she was a Good Samaritan not associated with the group). The teens turned on her, and the woman fled but returned with her boyfriend.
Some of the teens chased the man across the street and into a laundromat, where the teens beat the man with their skateboards. This was done in full view of witnesses, who said that the teens beat the victim in the head, according to CBS Los Angeles.
Sandy Nguyen, who works at a nail salon a couple doors down from the laundromat, told the TV station: "I was so scared. So I locked the door. They used their skateboards to beat the boy in the head."
Police officers arrived on the scene, and the teens fled the scene, but officers managed to round up seven of them. Four of them ended up being arrested and booked for attempted murder through Orange County Juvenile Hall, police said. All of the suspects were on probation for other crimes at the time. Because they are juveniles, their names have not been released.
The 25-year-old victim was transported to UCI Medical Center, and he is currently in critical condition. His name has not been released.
A friend of the victim Miguel Espinoza was in shock over the attack, and he told ABC 7: "This guy is a genuine, stand-up type of person. What could you possibly do to someone to have them want to kill you with a skateboard?"
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Anyone with information on this assault should call Huntington Beach police Detective Pat Ellis at (714) 536-5971.
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