A young man accused of beating a great-grandfather with an aluminum bat when the senior citizen tripped and fell on top of the suspect’s car was charged Wednesday with attempted murder and other felonies.
Samuel Elijah Alvarez, 18, of Santa Ana, has been held without bail since surrendering last Thursday following news reports about the Feb. 7 beating.
Alvarez, who turns 19 on Saturday, pleaded not guilty to attempted murder, aggravated assault, battery with serious bodily injury and possession of a prohibited weapon.
He also faces sentence-enhancing allegations of great bodily injury to a vulnerable victim, great bodily injury to an elder and the personal use of a deadly weapon and could face a life prison sentence if convicted.
Alvarez’s attorney, Michael Garey, declined comment.
The attack on the 71-year-old victim took place at a 76 gas station at 4502 Westminster Ave. about 7.25 p.m.
As he was walking out of the station, Jose Chacon of Santa Ana tripped and fell on top of Alvarez’s car, Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said.
Alvarez got out of the car and the pair argued. He then allegedly got an aluminum bat out of his vehicle and began charging at Chacon, who went to get a small pipe out of his truck to protect himself, according to police and prosecutors.
When Alvarez raised up the bat in a threatening manner, the victim swung the pipe at the defendant, but missed, prosecutors allege. The defendant allegedly struck the victim with the bat on his body and then slammed it on his head, causing him to fall down.
Vanessa Chacon-Johnson told the Orange County Register that her father’s face was so severely bruised as to make him unrecognizable.
Prosecutors said the victim, who remains hospitalized at UCI Medical Center, sustained three jaw fractures that required him to undergo surgery and have his mouth wired shut, along with four loosened teeth, bruises to his left arm and scrapes to his hand. His daughter said he also required stitches in his face.
Alvarez, who was ordered to return to court Feb. 23 for a pretrial hearing, also faces misdemeanor charges of hit-and-run with property damage and driving without a valid license stemming from a Sept. 4 crash, according to court records.
Alvarez is acused of rear-ending another vehicle at Harbor Boulevard and Trask Avenue in Garden Grove about 10:10 p.m. that day, according to Garden Grove police Lt. Bob Bogue.
Alvarez allegedly drove off without exchanging information with the other driver, but police were able to track him down because the front bumper, containing the license plate, was left at the scene of the crash, Bogue said.
— Wire reports