15-year-old boy arrested in connection with hammer attack that left three teens injured, one critically – By Ruben Vives (latimes.com) / June 3 2018
A 15-year-old boy has been arrested in connection with a home-invasion robbery in Northern California in which three teens were brutally beaten with a hammer, leaving one with a severe skull fracture, according to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Department.
The Watsonville teenager was taken into custody and booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and robbery, Sgt. Brian Cleveland said Friday. The teen was not identified because he is a minor.
Investigators are still searching for others believed to be involved in the attack, Cleveland said.
“We’re hopeful that we’ll identify them all and make arrests,” he said.
The assault occurred early Monday in the 100 block of Monte Vista Drive, a cul-de-sac in Aptos, an unincorporated community.
Carly Todisco with her teenage son, Alex, who was hospitalized after he and two of his friends were beaten with a hammer. (Todisco Family)
The boys were having a sleepover and were inside a converted garage room when a group of masked robbers broke in and used a hammer to attack the teens, at least two were asleep when it happened, according to Cleveland and the mother of one of the boys.
The robbers took items from the room and fled in a vehicle, according to the sheriff’s department.
The injured boys were taken to local hospitals. Two of the boys received medical treatment and were later released. The third teen was taken to a trauma center for a severe skull fracture, according to a GoFundMe account that was created to help raise money for the teen and his family.
The boy, only identified as Alex by family, was placed in a medically induced coma after having multiple seizures while being transported to the hospital. As of Friday afternoon, he was in stable condition, according to his mother Carly Todisco, 39.
Todisco said hours before the attack the boys were playing video games in the room. She said she was shocked over the attack.
She wasn’t alone.
“This is the safest neighborhood in the world,” said Suzanne Nickel, who has lived in the neighborhood since the 1970s. “It’s so out of left field. Everybody is appalled by what happened.”
Nickel said she was happy to hear an arrest had been made in the violent attack.
“I feel relief and I’ll feel more relief when they arrest the others,” Nickel said. “I’ll feel even more relief when Alex is out of the hospital”
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-hammer-attack-aptos-20180531-story.html
