Newport Prosecutor Beaten Unconscious On Morning Jog

NEWPORT BEACH, CA — An early morning jog turned violent Thursday as a Newport Beach woman was beaten unconscious, police say. The assault is being investigated to determine if it is in relation to the woman's work, a current murder trial on which she is prosecuting, according to Newport Beach Police Department.

The as of yet unnamed Inland Empire Deputy District Attorney was on a morning jog in Bob Henry Park in Newport Beach Thursday. The woman was attacked at just after 5:45 a.m. near 16th Street and Dover Drive, according to Jennifer Manzella of the Newport Beach Police Department.

The prosecutor, who was unable to describe her attacker other than to say it was a man, does not work in Orange County but somewhere in the Inland Empire, according to Manzella and a witness at the scene.

"The woman was taken to Orange County Global Medical Center in Santa Ana," Manzella said. "She suffered a cut to the head but she was not sexually assaulted or robbed."

The woman, barely able to walk, managed to stumble into a nearby gym after the attack, and she was covered in blood, witness Ron Cary told KCAL9.

"Not a little blood. Covered in blood, like a bucket of blood was poured over her," Cary told the station.
"She was in shock, she was frantic," Cary said. "She was all over the place, rambling. Her main concern was, 'Are they here, are they here? Are they on their way, are they on their way? ... And then the word 'attack' came out."

Cary said he heard the woman tell arriving officers that she is a deputy district attorney in the Inland Empire.
"She said, 'I'm in the middle of a murder trial. I'm on a murder trial and I was attacked from behind. Was I raped?' -- because she was unconscious," Cary told Channel 9.

Manzella said police are investigating if the woman's work as a prosecutors may have contributed to the crime.

Another witness told KCAL9 he saw a man on a bicycle following the woman before the attack.

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