CHP Seeks Help Finding 2 Who Attacked Officer

CHP officers returned Saturday to Ortega Highway, where a colleague was assaulted last week, in hopes that motorists might recognize sketches of the attackers.

California Highway Patrol Sgt. Jim Nellis was assaulted March 11 by two men on sports motorcycles. One of the men, clad in black leather, struck him over the head with a blunt object. Nellis had to be hospitalized overnight for moderate head trauma.

No arrests have been made, but Nellis helped artists put together composite sketches. He had pulled over the two men for a routine traffic stop on the winding highway outside San Juan Capistrano. They had no license plates. CHP and Orange County Sheriff’s Department investigators are hoping the public will help identify the men. They held a checkpoint on Ortega Highway on Saturday and will be out again to distribute the sketches today.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff’s Department at (949) 770-6011.