A pool man eating at a fast food restaurant in Newhall Monday, looked up from his meal to see someone going through the pool equipment in his truck, then ran out and allegedly hit the person in the head and chest with a hammer.
The victim, a man, was described only as a 36-year-old transient.
Allegedly the victim was seen taking items from the suspect’s open truck bed – a pool cleaning service truck, Shirley Miller, spokeswoman for the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station told The Signal Tuesday morning.
The assault happened shortly after 3:30 p.m. Monday at the Panda Express restaurant on Newhall Avenue near Valle Del Oro, Miller said.
“The suspect did allegedly strike the victim in the head with a hammer,” she said.
Paramedics with the Los Angeles County Fire Department were dispatched to the restaurant at 3:35 p.m. and arrived there at 3:42 p.m., Fire Department Inspector Gustavo Medina said.
“The patient was hit in the head and the chest with a hammer,” Medina said, noting the call came in as an assault.
The victim was taken to Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital by ambulance.
Deputies arrested a 36-year-old Canyon Country man in connection with the incident about 90 minutes after the incident.
“Shortly after 3:30 p.m., deputies responded to reports of an assault with a deadly weapon,” Miller said. “They responded to a restaurant on the 23700 block of Newhall Avenue.”
“The suspect was eating inside the restaurant when he saw the victim in parking lot handling the suspect’s pool equipment,” Miller said.
“The victim apparently took one of the poles out of the vehicle,” she said.
At that point, the suspect left the restaurant and confronted the person suspected of allegedly handling the pool equipment.
“The suspect left the location in his vehicle,” Miller said. “But, a deputy spotted the suspect’s vehicle.”
The suspect was detained at a location near the 23700 Wildwood Canyon Road, next to the Wildwood Canyon Open Space in Newhall, Miller said.
“The suspect was detained without incident,” she said.
Salvador Arana-Valladares, 35, of Canyon Country was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.
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