Fight leaves man in hospital

Two Costa Mesa men and a 17-year-old male were arrested early Saturday morning and booked on suspicion of attempted murder after a violent confrontation outside a 7-Eleven market in Mesa Verde, police said.

Shortly after 1 a.m., the group got into a verbal dispute with two young men outside the mini-mart at the corner of Harbor Boulevard and Mesa Verde Drive East, Lt. Tom Curtis said. The argument escalated into a physical fight in which the group struck Fateh Farouk Abdeljalil, 22, of Costa Mesa with a baseball bat and brass knuckles, Curtis said.

Abdeljalil suffered a head injury during the assault and underwent surgery at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, Curtis said. A second man, 27-year-old Francisco Javier Garnica of Santa Ana, was also targeted, but he refused medical attention, Curtis said.

The attackers fled in a brown 2006 Ford Escape, Curtis said. About 2 a.m., police stopped the vehicle in the area of Andros Street and Minorca Place and arrested the juvenile, along with a 20-year-old woman who had been at the scene, on suspicion of attempted murder, Curtis said. The woman was subsequently released.

About 7 a.m., detectives arrested Mario Antonio Ruelas, 18, and Hugo Cesar Cardoza, 22, at a residence on Maple Street, Curtis said. The men were booked at Costa Mesa Jail with their bail set at $1 million each, while the juvenile, whose name police withheld, was booked at Orange County Juvenile Hall.

Curtis said at least one of the men arrested was likely a gang member. He didn’t believe Abdeljalil or Garnica had any gang ties.

“I’m not aware the victims had any prior relationship or beef with the suspect group,” Curtis said. “There were some gang overtones to the assault on the suspects’ side of the house, not the victims’ side. It was not a clear gang-on-gang kind of fight. We have no reason to believe the victims are involved in gang-related activities.”

MICHAEL MILLER may be reached at (714) 966-4617 or at [email protected].