Police arrest man involved in fight

Marisa O’Neil

A fight Wednesday evening inside a Costa Mesa convenience store

turned into a brief chase, another fight and an alleged carjacking,

police said.

Officers arrested Juan Jose Jimenez, 21, of Santa Ana, on

suspicion of carjacking, assault with a deadly weapon and parole

violations, police said. He is being held in the Costa Mesa city jail

without bail.

The incident started when two men got into a fight just after 5:30

p.m. inside a store in the 1500 block of Gisler Avenue, Sgt. Marty

Carver said. A clerk called 911 when the men started knocking over

displays in the store.

At that point, the men ran out, got in their cars and drove away,

with Jimenez chasing the other man, Carver said.

They got out of their cars on Iowa Street, near TeWinkle Middle

School, and Jimenez got in the other man’s Lexus, police said.

“[Jimenez] then made two circles trying to run the victim over,

drove into a parked car and onto the condominium lawns at high

speed,” Carver said.

The man managed to scale a fence and Jimenez drove off, he said.

A woman in Jimenez’s car drove off and hasn’t been found.

Santa Ana police later found the Lexus and pulled it over. Costa

Mesa police arrested Jimenez.