Teenage Suspect Pleads Not Guilty in Pool Hall Attack

One of three teenagers arrested in connection with an attack on a Latino man outside a Cypress pool hall pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges that he violated the man’s civil rights, a court clerk said Thursday.

Vincent James Putzier, 19, of Garden Grove and two juveniles with possible links to white supremacy groups are suspected of striking a Huntington Beach man in the head with a beer bottle outside the Cypress House of Billiards on Monday night, police said. When two of the man’s friends came to his rescue, the group turned on them instead, stabbing them both in the back, authorities said.

One of the friends, a 32-year-old San Pedro man, was hospitalized at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, and a 30-year-old Long Beach man was treated for minor injuries and released. The three victims were local softball team members who went to the pool hall near Ball Road and Valley View Street after a game.

Police arrested Putzier and two 16-year-old boys, one from Stanton and the other from Anaheim, on suspicion of civil rights violations, assault with a deadly weapon and attempted murder. Authorities said they found white supremacy paraphernalia during the investigation.

On Wednesday, Putzier appeared in Municipal Court in Westminster to deny the charges and is scheduled in court for a pretrial hearing today, a court clerk said. The two younger teenagers are at Juvenile Hall awaiting trial.

Investigators are still seeking four other men, ages 21 to 25, for questioning, Cypress Police Sgt. David Birozy said.