Two Youths Arrested in Baseball-Bat Attack on 9-Year-Old Bicyclist

San Diego police arrested two youths on suspicion of attempted murder Thursday night in connection with a brutal attack on a 9-year-old boy who had been riding a bicycle.

The two boys, 16 and 17, were being held in Juvenile Hall, San Diego Police Lt. George Saldamando said.

Joshua Garrett was struck in the head Wednesday with a baseball bat by someone in a passing car. He was in serious condition but improving Thursday, Children’s Hospital officials said.

The arrests were made after another 16-year-old turned himself in to Chula Vista police about 4 p.m. Thursday, Saldamando said. San Diego police were notified, and the youth gave detectives the identities and addresses of the other two.

‘He Felt Real Bad About What Happened

“He felt real bad about what happened and said he had no knowledge about what the other two were going to do,” Saldamando said. The youth was in the back seat of the car when the 17-year-old said that “he felt like hitting someone,” Saldamando said.

As the car the youths were riding in pulled up beside Joshua, the 17-year-old, who was seated on the passenger side, struck the boy, Saldamando said.

“It was an isolated, vicious attack,” Saldamando said, adding that the attack was not believed to be gang-related.

The three youths all live in the South Bay, he said. San Diego police arrested the two boys without incident at the home of the driver of the vehicle. The boy who turned himself in was not arrested and was released to the custody of his parents, Saldamando said.

The victim’s mother, Theresa Garrett, and other relatives kept an all-night vigil Wednesday night at the boy’s bedside at Children’s Hospital, which first had listed him in critical condition.

When the boy regained consciousness early Thursday morning, Joshua “asked for water and a $1 bill” that had been in his pocket at the time of the attack, Garrett said.

Victim Awoke and Asked, ‘Where’s My Dollar?’

“I was so happy. He knew who I was,” she said. “He looked much better. All he kept asking about was ‘Where’s my dollar?”’

Joshua suffered a skull fracture, concussion and internal bleeding, hospital spokesman Mark Morelli said. It will be a few days before physicians know whether Joshua suffered brain damage, Morelli said.

Police had not yet questioned the boy about the attack, Garrett said.

Joshua had been in a coma since being taken to the hospital by Life Flight helicopter Wednesday afternoon, Morelli said. He carried no identification, police said.

Ann Maddox, a retired nurse, found the boy lying in a ditch in front of her house in the 1600 block of Hollister Street, across from Southwest High School. Maddox had been alerted by two other boys about 12:35 p.m.

Joshua “had a knot the size of a fist” on the back of his head and was bleeding from the mouth, Maddox said.

“I tried to talk to him, but he wasn’t consciously aware of what was going on around him,” Maddox said. “I just tried to keep him from going into shock.”

After Joshua was taken to the hospital, Maddox was walking her dog about 4:35 p.m. when she ran into Garrett, whom she did not previously know and who was looking for Joshua.

Maddox described the boy and the bicycle to her, noting Joshua’s “unusual flattop haircut.” A neighbor had kept the boy’s bicycle and belongings.

Maddox “showed me the bike and his shirt, and I couldn’t believe it. I still can’t,” Garrett said.

Mother Has Considered Moving Out of District

Garrett, who also lives on Hollister Street a few blocks from where Joshua was found, said she had considered moving out of the area before the attack because of concerns for the safety of her children.

Joshua, a fifth-grader at Harbor View Elementary School, is the second of Garrett’s three children. Garrett said there is substantial gang activity in the neighborhood, which is near Nestor.

“This has just got to stop,” she said. “It don’t make no sense. I don’t know why they (would) be doing something like this, I just don’t know.”