Two arrested in connection with assault

Deepa Bharath

Police arrested two people Tuesday in connection with a possible

gang-related assault that happened earlier in the day on the city’s

Westside, officials said.

Costa Mesa police arrested Rafael Rosales, 20, and another

16-year-old boy on suspicion of assaulting a 21-year-old Costa Mesa

man with a deadly weapon, said Lt. Dale Birney.

Both the alleged attackers and the victim were from Costa Mesa, he

said.

Birney said police received a call at about 10:45 a.m. reporting

three men engaged in a physical fight in the 500 block of Hamilton

Street.

“We received information that two males approached another male

and began hitting him with a club-like weapon,” he said.

The duo then got into a Cadillac and left the scene, Birney said.

The victim, whose name was not released, suffered cuts and bruises

and was not taken to the hospital.

Shortly afterward, officers stopped the Cadillac and arrested

Rosales and the boy, Birney said.

“We believe this may be a gang-related assault,” he said. “We

don’t know for sure.”

Rosales is being held in Costa Mesa city jail in lieu of a $50,000

bail and the boy has been transported to Juvenile Hall.

Tuesday’s incident is one in a string of gang-related assaults

since April. The first was on April 15 when a 15-year-old boy was

stabbed with a pair of scissors by two men while walking in the 1900

block of Wallace Avenue. The teenager’s injuries were not

life-threatening.

The second came less than a month later on May 9 when men wielding

guns attacked two men standing in a parking lot of an apartment

complex in the 1900 block of Maple Street. Both victims suffered

gunshot wounds but survived. Another incident left a 20-year-old with

a bullet in his back.

Gang officers said they believe the incidents are the result of a

rivalry between two Costa Mesa gangs. Last month, a multi-agency task

force conducted a gang sweep in the city’s Westside, arresting four

and seizing two handguns.

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at deepa.bharath@latimes.com.