Three Isla Vista residents were reportedly assaulted by 10 to 12 male suspects at the intersection of Camino Pescadero and Pardall Road at approximately 2 a.m. on Saturday, May 19.

UCSB students Jesse Jecman and David White and SBCC student James Ford said they were walking southbound on Camino Pescadero when a group of Hispanic males, all approximately 18 to 22 years old, assaulted them with clubs, socks filled with rocks and bicycle U-locks.

White suffered a broken arm, head lacerations, and cuts and bruises to the neck, arms, shoulders, back and hands. Ford, who was knocked unconscious for the majority of the altercation, sustained injuries to his face, including a broken nose and cheekbone and chipped teeth. Jecman said he was struck in the head, chest and back with clubs and other weapons, and suffered bruises and internal bleeding.

White said the incident began at approximately 12 a.m. when a group of subjects standing on Camino del Sur “taunted” and harassed a group of his friends, including 20-year-old John Farhang. At about 1 a.m., White, Farhang, Jecman, Ford and two other subjects were at Freebirds Burritos when they recognized three of the males from the altercation earlier and decided to follow them out of the restaurant, according to White.

“We were at Freebirds when we saw the three guys,” White said. “Those guys, and 10 others, were stomping their feet and being assholes to our friends earlier. Six of us that were eating at Freebirds followed them and said, ‘We know you guys were causing trouble.’ They said, ‘Oh, no, it wasn’t us.’ We walked to Silvergreen’s, and they were on their cell phones, calling their friends to kick our asses, but we didn’t know that yet.”

Ford, Jecman and White split from their friends and were walking home toward Sue–o Road when they were attacked, White said.

“When they went to hit [Ford] I didn’t realize they had weapons,” White said. “They formed a semicircle around me and I put up my fists, and then realized they had U-locks for bikes and other weapons. I tried to punch a guy to get away, but I fell down because they hit me in the back. I saw a U-lock coming at my face, and I put up my arm to block it, and they shattered [my arm.] I tried to protect myself with my hand, and got hit on top of the head – that’s why I have staples in the back of my head.”

Jecman said the rest of the group attacked him and White after Ford was knocked unconscious.

“[Ford] got smacked in the face, enough to knock him out, and then they all turned on me and Dave,” Jecman said. “Five were after me, the rest were after Dave. One guy hit me with a club in the chest and then the head. I fell on the ground and got up and saw four or five guys with clubs and socks with rocks in them. They hit me 10 times in the back.”

Jecman was able to contact IVFP officers and all three victims were transported to Goleta Cottage Hospital, where they were treated and released.

According to the IVFP report, the Silvergreen’s surveillance videotape showing the three suspects talking on their cellular phones was retrieved and booked into evidence. The investigation is still pending.

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