Gang Attacks Prompt Stepped-Up Patrols

Two apparent gang-related incidents--a drive-by shooting and an assault--have occurred in the same neighborhood in two days, prompting Costa Mesa police to increase patrol units because investigators believe the attacks are linked and fear future retaliations, police said.

“We are going to be substantially stepping up patrol in those areas because we are afraid of additional retaliation,” Detective Tom Boylan said. “With gun involvement and bullets flying, we’re talking about some pretty serious stuff here.”

The drive-by shooting, which injured two Costa Mesa teen-agers, occurred Tuesday night about half a mile away from the Wednesday night attack, in which a victim was clubbed with a hammer. Police are especially on guard because Costa Mesa usually has only a few drive-by shootings a year, Boylan said.

On Tuesday night, a passenger in large utility vehicle fired several shots at two 16-year-old boys who were working on a car engine in a residential driveway on Shalimar Avenue, said police.

One victim was shot in the side, suffered internal injuries and was operated on at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana. He was in stable condition Thursday, Sgt. Tom Curtis said.

The second victim, who investigators believe is a gang member, was shot in the upper back and taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange, where he was treated for a superficial wound, Curtis said.

About 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, in what police believe was a retaliation to the drive-by shooting, two Costa Mesa teen-agers were assaulted in the 800 block of Center Street, Curtis said.

As the victims, ages 17 and 18, were riding in a car, two Cadillacs pulled up from the opposite direction and blocked their path near Placentia Avenue, police said. The victims put their car in reverse and sped off, pursued by the assailants. The three cars crashed just west of Placentia Avenue, Curtis said.

The victims abandoned their car and were chased on foot by the assailants, who caught and struck the 17-year-old on the head with a hammer, police said.

When police arrived, the attackers and victims had left, but shortly afterward the 17-year-old was treated for minor head injuries at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach. The 18-year-old was uninjured.

Police have made no arrests.

It is likely that these two attacks are linked, Boylan said, but he declined to elaborate.