Brick Attack Leaves Man Comatose

A San Clemente man remained in a coma Tuesday after being hit with bricks in a Friday brawl.

Three suspects -- Filiberto Thomas Cordova, 23, Francisco Javier Sanchez, 29, and Gilberto Velazquez, 29 -- have been charged with attempted murder and assault in the case. In addition, Velazquez and Sanchez face felony street terrorism charges for their alleged affiliation with the San Clemente-related Varrio Chico street gang, according to the Orange County District Attorney's office.

An Orange County Sheriff's Department spokesman did not return messages seeking confirmation that the charges were related to Friday's assault, but the date and details in the D.A. complaint match up with the accounts of five witnesses interviewed by San Clemente Patch.

The brawl, which erupted around 11 p.m. near the corner of Avenida Rosa and Avenida Victoria, involved more than a dozen people, according to witnesses, police reports and fire officials.

Dan Jacobsen, one of the victims, got involved after hearing a commotion outside his apartment and running outside, where he saw his 19-year-old son and two friends arguing with several other men.

Suddenly, a white, two-door Chevy pickup sped to the stop sign at the end of Rosa from the direction of El Camino Real, and several men got out, he said.

Jacobsen, who pulled away some of the attackers and was injured in the process, said he dragged his son -- who had been knocked unconscious -- to the concrete stairs of their apartment, where a faint bloodstain remained Tuesday.

Jacobsen said it was then he saw the attackers descend en masse on the victim who is now comatose.

"They were beating on him," Jacobsen said. "[The man in the coma] got hit at least three times."

(Jacobsen asked that Patch withhold the names of the two younger victims for fear of reprisals.)

Jacobsen said Tuesday he had been in contact with relatives of the comatose man.

"They had to remove the top of his skull to relieve the pressure," he said.

After beating the comatose victim for a short time, the attackers dispersed, witnesses said--some in the white pickup, some on foot.

Neighbors who spoke to San Clemente Patch on Tuesday backed up Jacobsen's story.

"I don't know if I'd have had the courage to do what Dan did," said Larry Culbertson, who was looking out his window from across the street during the incident. "Of course, I might feel differently if it were my kid."

It was Culbertson's wife, Jaine, who made two of the three calls to 911 that night.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The video attached to this article was taken from a YouTube video forwarded by a reader. It has been edited by Patch for length and to remove some -- but not all -- offensive language.