Santa Ana : Police Look for Leads in Beating, Robbery of Boy

Saying they have run out of leads, police are asking anyone with information about the brutal beating and robbery of a 16-year-old boy to call them immediately.

The youth was attacked on March 9 while walking home from a Santa Ana High School dance. He remains in a coma at Coastal Communities Hospital in Santa Ana, police spokeswoman Maureen Thomas said.

Thomas said police were especially interested in finding a white, older-model, commercial-size pickup truck that detectives feel may lead them to one or more suspects. The truck has either green paint or a primer spot on the rear wheel well on the passenger side, she said.

Investigators know little about the circumstances leading to the attack, Thomas said. But shortly before 12:30 a.m., when the youth was found beaten and lying in the roadway at Walnut and Pacific streets, he was seen talking to two Latinos at that intersection.

The teen-ager, whom police declined to identify, remains critically ill with internal and head injuries, Thomas said.

Police lack any description of the two Latino men but are hoping the description of the pickup will flush out additional witnesses.

“We hope it would jog someone’s memory and lead us to the suspects,” she said. “We’re really at the point where we don’t have any other evidence.”

Thomas asked anyone with information about the incident to call Santa Ana Police Investigator Phill Lozano between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m at (714) 647-5615. During other hours, callers should telephone police at (714) 834-4801.