ANAHEIM : Surgery Credited With Saving a Life

A Garden Grove man who underwent emergency brain surgery after allegedly being punched by a Marine Corps recruiter nearly died Sunday morning, but a second operation at least temporarily saved his life, according to the man’s family.

“We thought it was over,” said Philip Hatch Jr., whose brother, Larry Lamar Hatch, remained in critical condition. “It was tough on all of us.”

Police say Larry Hatch, 22, of Garden Grove, was knocked to the ground Friday morning in an altercation with Marine Corps recruiter Sgt. Juan Antonio Rodriguez, 29, of Irvine. Hatch was badly hurt, police said, his head cut by blows and also from hitting the pavement when he fell.

Rodriguez, who was arrested at the scene, was being held Sunday at the Anaheim city jail on suspicion of attempted murder. Bail was set at $250,000.

The incident began with a verbal exchange in the parking lot of the Albertson’s supermarket where Hatch works, police said. Infuriated by remarks from Hatch and several of his friends, Rodriguez, described as 6 feet, 1 inch tall and weighing 212 pounds, allegedly punched Hatch in the head, knocking him unconscious. Hatch, who is about 5 feet, 7 inches tall and weighs 145 pounds, was rushed to Los Alamitos Medical Center, where he underwent surgery.

Doctors induced a coma to reduce swelling in Hatch’s brain, and they are not expected to try to return him to consciousness for more than a week, Philip Hatch said.

Sunday morning, doctors discovered new swelling and returned Hatch to the operating room to relieve it.

“They warned us that he might not make it,” Philip Hatch said. “They thought it was bleeding into his brain, and that there might not be anything they could do.”

But after surgery, the more than 20 members of the Hatch family who gathered nervously in the hospital waiting room were informed that Larry Hatch had weathered the immediate crisis.