BRIEFLY IN PUBLIC SAFETY

Unconscious cyclist is found in bushes

Newport Beach police are seeking the public’s help in finding the driver of a Toyota Previa who may have hit a bicyclist, leaving him unconscious on the side of the road Wednesday.

At 6:18 a.m. police received a call from witnesses who found the unidentified man in the bushes next to Dover Drive between Cliff Drive and 16th Street, Lt. Jim Kaminsky said. Wednesday evening, the man remained unconscious at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana.

Police were running the man’s fingerprints, but if he has not previously come into contact with law enforcement, nothing will come up, Kaminsky said. He had no identification on him, and was wearing a shirt, shorts and tennis shoes, but not a helmet, police said.

“The key here to finding his identity will be the bicycle,” Kaminsky said, adding that the red Bianchi 10-speed men’s model is an expensive bike.

“We don’t have any witnesses who saw the actual incident,” Kaminsky said. “The only reason we know the vehicle was involved was because of pieces found on the scene.”

Also, the bike sustained damage that likely isn’t the result of a simple fall, Kaminsky said.

The pieces of the car were taken to a Costa Mesa Toyota dealership, where officers learned that they came from a white or gray Previa, Kaminsky said. That model of Toyota minivan was only in production from 1991 to 1997, Kaminsky said.

Police ask that anyone with information call (949) 644-3742.

Man arrested in Sears before store opened

Police arrested a man found inside Sears without shoes or a shirt and holding nine MP3 players hours before the store opened Wednesday, authorities said.

At 2:44 a.m., Costa Mesa police responded to an alarm set off at the department store inside South Coast Plaza and found a smashed window at Sears, police said. K9 units from Fountain Valley and Costa Mesa police spent three hours searching the mall after numerous motion detectors were activated inside, Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Marty Carver said.

Around 5 a.m., officers allegedly found Jesus Lopez Osorio, 24, of Santa Ana inside the Sears. Osorio kept insisting that he really needed a new MP3 player because his was broken, Carver said.

Osorio is at Costa Mesa Jail, where he has been detained for possible immigration violations, police said.

Sexual assault suspect to be arraigned today

A Costa Mesa man is scheduled to face charges today of assault with the intent to commit rape, two counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object, and resisting and obstructing an officer. He allegedly attacked a woman outside a home, officials said.

At around 1 a.m. Feb. 21, a woman was getting out of her car in the driveway of the home she was house sitting in Costa Mesa, county prosecutors said. The suspect, Byron Mauricio Izaguirre, 25, allegedly grabbed her and began forcing his hands into her clothing, digitally penetrating her. The victim ran down the street but was allegedly caught and assaulted again by Izaguirre, prosecutors said.

Neighbors who heard screaming came out of their homes, and Izaguirre reportedly fled and hid in nearby bushes. Izaguirre is also accused of resisting police during his arrest, prosecutors said.

Izaguirre, who faces up to 22 years in prison if convicted, is being held on $1-million bail and is scheduled to be arraigned at 8:30 a.m. today in Department H-2 at the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach.

County prosecutors ask that anyone with additional information or who believes they have been victimized to call Supervising Dist. Atty. Investigator Craig Kelsey at (714) 347-8794.