FULLERTON : Charge Reduced in Injury of Store Clerk

Citing lack of evidence, prosecutors reduced a charge of attempted murder to assault and battery against a Marine Corps recruiter accused of attacking a supermarket clerk after an argument.

“After receiving additional reports and further investigation, we don’t believe we can prove an actual intent to kill,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. James W. Hicks.

Sgt. Juan Rodriguez, 29, of Irvine, a former boxer, is accused of assaulting Larry Lamar Hatch, 22, of Garden Grove, during a confrontation in the parking lot of an Albertson’s supermarket in Anaheim on April 27.

Rodriguez now faces charges of assault with a deadly weapon and battery in North Orange County Municipal Court.

Police say Rodriguez was arguing with Hatch and several other workers in the store parking lot when the fight broke out, leaving Hatch unconscious after Rodriguez allegedly hit him twice.

Rodriguez was confined to the Marine base in El Toro following the incident, which left Hatch in a coma. Hatch has since regained consciousness and is listed in fair condition at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Anaheim.

Hicks said he does not expect the reduced charges to alter the court order confining Rodriguez to the base.

Rodriguez’s attorney, Dennis O’Connell, who has contended that his client was acting in self-defense, said Wednesday that the case proceeded before all the evidence could be collected.

“There was never a factual basis for the charge of attempted murder,” he said.