| For Immediate Release Case # 08CF0307 February 26, 2008 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Public Affairs Counsel Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
MEMBER OF BIKER GANG TO BE ARRAIGNED FOR ASSAULTING AND STABBING MAN AT GAS STATION
SANTA ANA – A member of an outlaw motorcycle gang will be arraigned tomorrow on charges of assaulting and stabbing a man at a gas station. John Charles McCartt, 49, Orange, is charged with felonies for attempted murder, aggravated assault, criminal threats, and street terrorism, with sentencing enhancements for criminal street gang activity, causing great bodily injury, and the personal use of a deadly weapon. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted. McCartt is being held on $1 million bail and is scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow, Wednesday, February 27, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. in Department C-55, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
At approximately 5:00 p.m. on January 26, 2008, McCartt, a member of an outlaw motorcycle gang, is accused of cutting off another driver, John Doe, as the two men pulled into a gas station in Orange. McCartt is accused of pulling up to a pump in his white Ford F-150 pick-up truck and the victim parked parallel to the defendant at another pump. The victim made a comment to McCartt about cutting him off, and McCartt is accused of approaching the victim, yelling at him, and threatening to kill him. The victim tried to avoid the defendant and began walking toward the indoor pay station.
McCartt is accused of following closely behind John Doe, continuing to yell at him. As the victim opened the door of the pay station, McCartt is accused of stabbing the victim one time on the back, puncturing his lung. John Doe, thinking he had been punched and not realizing he had been stabbed, continued into the station and attempted to pay the clerk for gas. McCartt is accused of coming up behind John Doe and punching him repeatedly in the back of the head. After seeing that John Doe was bleeding from the stab wound, McCartt is accused of leaving the store and fleeing the scene.
Later that night, officers from the Orange Police Department responded to an unrelated domestic violence call from McCartt’s home. One of the officers, who had been the responding officer earlier in the evening at the gas station, recognized McCartt and his truck from the description of the earlier attack. McCartt was arrested and charged with misdemeanors for domestic violence battery and child abuse (Case # 08CM00742). He is scheduled for pre-trial on this case tomorrow in Department C-53. McCartt was charged with the attempted murder of John Doe while in custody for the domestic violence case.
Deputy District Attorney Erik Petersen of the Gangs Unit is prosecuting this case.
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