Five men stabbed at Momo’s Downtown Four...

Five men stabbed at Momo’s Downtown

Four Huntington residents and one Rohnart Park resident were

stabbed in a large fight that broke out at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday outside

of Momo’s bar on Main Street Downtown.

Police arrested three Huntington Beach men on suspicion of

attempted homicide: James Jones, 21, Eric Schmidt, 20, and Christian

Hanson, 21. All three are being held in the Huntington Beach Police

Department Jail.

None of the wounds were life threatening, Huntington Beach Police

Lt. Janet Perez said.

Robert Coley, 26, was stabbed in the chest and right arm, and

Jacob Moyanihan, 23, in the right armpit area. Both Huntington

residents were taken to the medical center at the UC Irvine.

Huntington resident Ryan Hoover, 26, suffered cuts to the hand, and

Rohnart Park resident Edward White, 20, was stabbed in the stomach.

Both were both taken to Western Medical Center. Huntington resident

Jeremy Caldwell also received small cuts, but was not hospitalized.

Police don’t know what caused the fight, Perez said. The incident

is under investigation.

Brea man dies in fight Downtown

A 19-year-old Brea man died Monday in an Irvine hospital after

suffering severe head injuries from a fight in Downtown Huntington

Beach.

Huntington Beach Police, who were notified by a nearby resident of

the fight, arrived to find Preston Nicholas Van Houten lying in the

street shortly after 2 a.m. Monday in the 200 block of 22nd Street.

He was surrounded by a large crowd of people when police arrived.

Witnesses told police that after being struck, Van Houten fell

onto the ground and hit his head on the pavement, Huntington Beach

Police Lt. Janet Perez said.

“We can’t say at this point whether alcohol played a part or

whether they were fighting over something specific,” Perez said.

No weapons were involved, Perez said.

Van Houten was transported to UCI Medical Center by the fire

department paramedics. He died at 9 p.m. Monday.

No arrests have been made and the incident is still under

investigation.

Man drowns while bodyboarding

A 22-year-old Long Beach man drowned Tuesday night while boogie

boarding at Huntington City Beach after sundown.

His friends spotted him floating face down in the water after they

saw his board wash ashore, Marine Safety Lt. Mike Beuerlein said. The

man was pulled from the water at about 8:15 p.m. between city beach

lifeguard towers 22 and 24. Marine Safety would not release the name

of the man.

After paramedics couldn’t resuscitate the man, he was taken to

Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, where he died.

This is the first drowning that has taken place at the city beach

this summer, and the second that has occurred this year.

Both drownings occurred after dark, when no lifeguards were on

duty.

“We’ve seen an increase in the number of people out in the dark

lately,” Beuerlein said, adding that as water temperature increases,

people are more apt to stay in the water later.

“We always caution people to swim near an open tower,” he said.

Officials are not yet releasing the man’s name.

Police promote two and retire one

Surf City’s finest said goodbye to one seasoned officer and

promoted two others during a ceremony held in the City Council

Chambers last week.

Police Chief Kenneth Small promoted Lt. Dan Johnson to captain and

Sgt. Gary Meza to lieutenant. Both men served previously as public

liaisons.

Johnson became a member of the Huntington Beach Police Department

in 1984 after transferring from the Los Angeles Police Department. He

will be the Investigation Division commander.

Meza has been with the Huntington Beach Police Department since

1974 when he was first hired as a cadet. Meza’s last assignment was

in the Professional Standards Unit. He will assume duties as a Patrol

Watch commander.

During the ceremony, Small also recognized Det. Don Howell, who

retired last week.

Howell came to the department in 1979 after serving six years on

the Monrovia Police Department. In 1980, he transferred to the

Investigation Bureau, where he was assigned to sex crimes

investigations. Howell is a nationally recognized expert in sex

crimes investigations and has published articles and a book on the

topic.