Briefly in the news

-- Deepa Bharath

COSTA MESA -- An erroneous report from the Costa Mesa Police

Department on Monday added a bizarre twist to an already strange

attempted murder case.

Police had said Miroslav Maric, 49, of Newport Beach, who was shot in

broad daylight outside a fast-food restaurant in Costa Mesa on Friday,

died Monday morning after he was declared brain dead and pulled off life

support.

On Tuesday, they retracted their statement, saying the information was

incorrect and that Maric is still on life support in the intensive care

unit at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana.

The alleged shooter, Ramadan Dokovic, 42, of Downey, will be charged

with attempted murder, said Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Don Holford. Bail has

been denied while he awaits a June 1 arraignment.

Chief David Snowden said the Police Department apologizes for the

error.

“We made a mistake,” he said. “Mistakes do happen.”

Maric was shot several times Friday afternoon as he sat in a black

Mercedes Benz convertible parked at the Jack In The Box restaurant at the

corner of 17th Street and Tustin Avenue.

At least a dozen witnesses saw the shooter pull out the long-barreled

gun and pump bullets into Maric, who they said was cowering and yelling

out for help.