Thanksgiving assailant at large

Each day he doesn’t turn himself in, the man who killed a Corona del Mar resident on Thanksgiving Day digs himself a deeper hole, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Clinton “C.J.” Hubbard, 27, was punched in the head just before 2 a.m. outside The Code restaurant in Newport Beach. The impact burst a blood vessel in Hubbard’s brain, family members said. He was taken off life support Friday night, with family by his side, his sister, Jessica Johnson, said.

The man who punched him ran off before authorities arrived, family members said.

“Every minute that goes by and he doesn’t turn himself in...I doubt it more and more,” said Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Matt Murphy. “Every day that goes by, it gets worse and worse.”

Hubbard was bleeding from his eyes, nose and mouth and had a heartbeat, but he wasn’t breathing, Sailor said.

Johnson said people familiar with the incident saw Hubbard confronting a man who was arguing with a woman when he got hit.

Patrol officers who responded immediately canvassed the area and talked to customers, business owners and pedestrians, Sailor said.

At this time, police do not have a suspect and are not releasing any suspect description.

A similar attack occurred outside Muldoon’s Dublin Pub in Newport Beach in April 2006. In that incident, one man pushed or punched another man, who fell to the pavement, hit his head and died. Prosecutors did not charge anyone with a crime in that case.

In that case, Murphy said, the man who died was the aggressor and was attacking the other man’s brother, so it was self-defense. The circumstances around the punch that ultimately killed Hubbard last week remain fuzzy, he said.

“Everyone is calling it a sucker punch,” Murphy said. “The longer he waits, the more unjustified it looks.”