Costa Mesa store employee sustains lacerations during assault, 27-year-old arrested

Costa Mesa police arrested a 27-year-old man on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, after he allegedly walked into a store on the 700 block of West 19th Street Monday and attacked an employee working there.

Officers arrived at the business shortly after 6:30 p.m. to find the victim, whose identity was not being released Tuesday due to an ongoing investigation, had sustained multiple torso lacerations while attempting to ward off the attack.

The employee had been working at the store when the suspect — identified as Douglas Osmos Munoz, 27, of Costa Mesa — reportedly entered the building and began attacking the individual with an unknown object before fleeing on foot, according to Costa Mesa Police Department spokeswoman Roxi Fyad.

Responding officers reviewed the store’s video surveillance camera footage and, working with an image of the suspect, located Osmos Munoz in the immediate vicinity. A knife was retrieved from the scene, Fyad reported Tuesday.

Osmos Munoz was booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. Fyad did not indicate whether the suspect and the employee may have known each other previously or if Monday’s attack was unprovoked, but she confirmed the employee’s injuries were not life threatening.