Two brawls, carjacking and police pursuit in Santa Ana result in three arrests
SANTA ANA, Calif. - Meanwhile, police now believe that the fatal stabbing of a 62-year-old man in Tustin, which was initially thought to be part of the Santa Ana crime spree, was an unrelated attack.
Santa Ana officers were called about 8:30 p.m. Monday about a fight at a laundromat at 2741 N. Grand Ave., Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said.
"What we know now is a victim called his mother because he was in trouble and she picked him up and was taking him home," Bertagna said. "While we were out on Grand, we got a call of a large group of people fighting in the street in the 2600 block of North Eastwood Avenue."
The combatants at the laundromat followed the young man and his mother and carjacked her Cadillac Escalade at knifepoint as they neared their Santa Ana home, Bertagna said. The woman's son disappeared after the carjacking, and police are looking for him, the corporal said.
About an hour later, police spotted the stolen Escalade and attempted a traffic stop, but the driver kept going until getting trapped in a cul-de-sac, where the teenagers were taken into custody, Bertagna said.
One of the suspected instigators of the Santa Ana fight at the laundromat walked into OC Global Medical Center to be treated for non-life threatening stab wounds, Bertagna said.
About the same time, citizens were calling police about a stabbing victim near the scene of the second fight and mistakenly thought it was related, Bertagna said.
Tustin police were called at 8:48 p.m. regarding the stabbing victim on Prospect Avenue at Norwood Park Place, according to Tustin police Lt. Andy Birozy. The victim, whose name was not immediately released, was rushed to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Birozy said.
The man was walking on Prospect Avenue about 8:45 p.m. when he was stabbed in the upper body, Birozy said. Police have not established a motive for the attack and asked anyone with information helpful to investigators to call Tustin detectives at 714-573-3246 or 714-573-3220.