Provo police: Baseball bat attack leads to California fugitive's arrest

Call it the case of the alleged baseball bat-wielding, gang-banging, bicycle-pedaling perp.

Provo police Sgt. Brandon Post said a 22-year-old male suspect was in Utah County Jail Tuesday after purportedly beating a 57-year-old man in a drug-related dispute on Saturday near 245 W. 400 North in Provo.

The suspect was not too hard to find, police said. First, he made his getaway on a bicycle, and with his girlfriend also riding on a bicycle definitely not built for two, it was not a speedy flight.

Second, witnesses to the assault got a good look at the assailant, describing him in detail, right down to his numerous and distinctive tattoos — including one of a Playboy bunny on his left cheek.

Police were pretty sure who the assailant was: a California man with suspected gang ties, and as they later learned, also a fugitive wanted on an arrest warrant from that state for parole violation.

"When the officers went to the suspect's house they found his bicycle in the front yard. His family insisted that he was not home, but after some negotiation [the suspect] surrendered himself for questioning," Post said.

The man was arrested and booked into jail on suspicion of aggravated assault. He also was being held without bail on the California warrant, jail records showed.

The victim was found by police conscious and communicative, despite bleeding from the mouth, from which he lost several teeth, and suffering a gash on the back of his head that required stitches.

remims@sltrib.com