Attack suspects to appear in court

Two San Bernardino men are scheduled to appear in court Thursday for their first pre-trial hearing after pleading not guilty to violently robbing a man in Newport Beach last week.

Anthony Elijio Ventura, 21, and Marco Zamudio, 19, are scheduled for a pre-trial hearing in Newport Beach’s Harbor Justice Center on charges they attacked a 37-year-old man Aug. 18 at a Newport Beach bus stop off 32nd Street and Balboa Boulevard to steal his backpack and wallet.

It was about 4:45 a.m. when the man was attacked, police said.

“Suspects will usually prey on innocent victims who are alone in an unpopulated area. Many times, this is due to the lateness of evening or the early morning hours in which most people are in bed sleeping,” Sgt. Evan Sailor said. “Last summer, we had experienced a handful of street robberies during the summer months in which the suspects preyed on victims who had left the bars at closing time and appeared to be intoxicated. The suspects are usually from out of town and may never return again, as in this case.”

Police said the victim saw his attackers, Ventura, Zamudio and one other man, standing across the street from him milling around. They eventually got into their 2004 Chevy Impala, drove away, did a U-turn, pulled up, jumped out and attacked him, Sailor said.

Zamudio is accused of having a foot-long metal pipe and hitting the man over the head with it. The men grabbed the man’s wallet out of his back pocket and stole his backpack that was sitting next to him on the bus stop, Sailor said.

Bruised, but not beaten, the man was able to relay his attackers’ license plate number to police over the phone while they sped away, officials said. The men were arrested in San Bernardino about 36 hours later. The third suspect is still on the loose, police said.

Zamudio and Ventura are being held in Orange County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail.