Four Marines Arrested in Irvine Robbery-Assault

Four U.S. Marines were arrested in connection with an attack and attempted robbery of a 43-year-old man who was walking home from a coffee shop in the Woodbridge community, investigators said Tuesday.

Police said the Marines, all from the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, initially had gone to the Laguna Hills Mall to rob someone but changed their minds.

“They decided upon the Woodbridge Lake area because they could find someone who looked ‘well-off,’ ” Police Lt. Sam Allevato said in a prepared statement.

About 9 p.m. on Nov. 10, four men attacked a Woodbridge resident on a sidewalk and knocked him to the ground near Stone Creek South and Yale Loop, along North Woodbridge Lake, investigators said.

“The victim was punched and kicked in the head as the suspects attempted to remove his wallet from his back pocket,” Allevato said. “Unable to do so, they allowed him to stand up and then the suspects pointed a handgun and demanded his wallet.”

The man threw his day planner toward a nearby bush. When the robbers went to pick it up, the victim ran away, police said. He suffered a fractured nose and head injuries, investigators said.

About a month later, police received a call from the Marine Corps Criminal Investigation Division at Camp Pendleton about a Marine in custody on an unrelated matter, Allevato said. During an interview, the Marine had talked about a robbery in Irvine and led to the arrest of three other suspects, police said.

Arrested within the past few weeks were Michael Lown, 25, of New York; Ather Bridges, 20, of North Carolina; Christopher Byars, 20, of Maine; and William Anady, 21, of California. .

All four Marines were booked into Orange County Jail on suspicion of robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit a crime. Lown’s bail was set at $50,000, and bail for each of the others was $100,000. The four also face disciplinary and criminal sanctions from the military courts, Allevato said.

This and other crimes recently in Woodbridge prompted residents at a recent homeowners association meeting to talk about how much it might cost to install video cameras in public places, said Kevin Chudy, field coordinator for the Woodbridge association. The idea, he said, is still in the preliminary stage.

“We are very disturbed about the recent incidents,” Chudy said. “It just seems like more violent crimes seem to be happening in the area, and we have to do something about it.”