By Gina Yarbrough
Oceanside, CA–The Oceanside Police Department is investigating a series of unprovoked assaults by a group of individuals allegedly targeting strangers at the Oceanside Harbor Saturday evening, authorities said.
Officers responded around 8:50 p.m. to reports of an altercation at 1400 North Harbor Drive.
According to Oceanside Police, witnesses at the scene reported that two individuals, their faces obscured by bandanas, assaulted several men with baseball bats. The suspects fled the scene in a vehicle before police arrived. When officers arrived on the scene, they found two victims suffering from severe head trauma. Oceanside Fire Department personnel transported the victims to a local hospital for emergency treatment.
Witnesses described the suspects as appearing to provoke altercations with random passersby. A bystander who attempted to record the incident on her phone was also threatened by the suspects, who tried to seize her device, the Oceanside Police Department stated in a news release.
Shortly after the initial report, police received information about two additional victims being treated for similar injuries at Tri-City Medical Center. These victims, although unrelated to the first two, were assaulted in the same area and in a similar manner. All four victims sustained significant injuries, including head lacerations and, in one case, a facial fracture.
The Oceanside Police Department has located the suspect vehicle and identified possible suspects. The investigation remains ongoing.
Authorities are urging anyone with information about the incident to contact Detective Sergeant Dave Estrada at (760) 435-4698 or by email at DEstrada@oceansideca.org.
