Teen Arrested In Tire Iron Attack On Man At Seal Beach Gas Station

SEAL BEACH (CBSLA.com) — A teenager has been arrested for the tire iron attack on a man at a gas station in Seal Beach last month.

The attack was caught on camera.

"It's finally over. This guy is not out there anymore, he can't hurt anybody," said the victim.

KCAL9's Stacey Butler says the suspect is a 17-year-old.

"Just like a big relief," the victim said when told about the arrest.

The victim, a 26-year-old Cypress man, is too afraid to show his face on camera but he wanted to share his story.

"It's crazy how fast it happened," he said.

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The victim is still haunted by the attack.

"I'm still like looking over my shoulder at night," he said, "I'm definitely being a lot more precautious when I'm out and about."

Authorities said they searched for the suspect for over two weeks. Just before 9 a.m. Thursday, police arrested the Cypress teen in a Buena Park neighborhood.

Detectives said they received an anonymous tip from a news viewer who saw the footage last month and finally decided to call police and identify the suspect.

"We can only imagine due to the violence of the crime, this person was probably a bit nervous to come forward and tell us exactly what they knew," said Seal Beach Police Sgt. Phil Gonshak.

The victim is still recovering from the beating. He got a black eye and head lacerations.

Police said the suspect randomly chose the victim with the intention of robbing him and carjacking the victim's Jeep.

The victim had a message for the suspect.

"Hopefully, he thinks about what he did when he's in prison. Being a bad person isn't worth it," he said.

Neighbors told Butler the suspect didn't try to run or put up a fight when he was placed in custody.

The suspect faces aggravated assault charges and could be tried as an adult.