Costa Mesa man pleads guilty, will serve time for attacking transgender woman with skateboard

A Costa Mesa man arrested last month for beating a transgender woman with a skateboard and threatening a witness who called the police was sentenced Wednesday to serve 180 days in jail and two years’ probation, court records indicate.

Johnny Santos Moreno, 23, pleaded guilty to felony charges of dissuading a witness by force and violation of an individual’s civil rights through violent injury, in addition to one misdemeanor charge of assault with a deadly weapon.

A judge ordered him to serve 180 days in jail and two years’ probation. Court records show he was also ordered to pay restitution, although the amount was not specified.

Costa Mesa police officers arrested Moreno on March 11, after he publicly hurled derogatory and homophobic remarks at a transgender woman. Prosecutors maintained Moreno shouted epithets at the victim as he repeatedly hit her with a skateboard he’d had in his possession.

A passing motorist saw the confrontation and contacted the police to report the attack, at which time Moreno threatened the witness with his skateboard, the Orange County district attorney’s office reported in a release issued following the incident.

“No one should have to live in the shadow of fear that they will be targeted and physically attacked because of the way they dress, speak, behave, or who they love,” Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer said in the release. “Those who engage in hate-motivated crimes will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law here in Orange County.”

Court records show Moreno has been convicted of various misdemeanor offenses in recent years, including multiple charges of possession of a controlled substance and paraphernalia, trespassing and refusing to leave an area at an officer’s request.

He is currently being held in Orange County’s Theo Lacy Facility and is scheduled to appear in court May 4 for a firearms relinquishment hearing, records show.

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