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2 Watsonville Fathers Attacked In Feud Between Families, 5 Arrested

WATSONVILLE (CBS SF) -- Watsonville police have arrested four men and a boy after a feud between two families ended in the brutal assaults of the fathers of both families on Tuesday, police reported Thursday.

The altercations between the families started around 5 p.m. Tuesday, when Jose Manuel Lua, 36, and Carlos Maldonado Jr., 28, engaged in a fistfight at 58 Marin St., where Lua's family lived, police Sgt. Eric Montalbo said.

At 9:52 p.m. that evening, in an apparent act of revenge, Miguel Vega, 22, Ivan Calderon, 18, Patrick Isidro, 18, two juveniles aged 17 and 16 and possibly Lua himself, drove to Maldonado's family home at 34 Miles Lane, Montalbo said.

The suspects got out of a car described as a white Honda, went to the home, and proceeded to beat members of the Maldonado family with bats and metal pipes. One suspect brandished a firearm, police said.

Carlos Maldonado, 52, the father of the younger Carlos Maldonado, suffered a fractured skull in the assault. He was taken to a Bay Area trauma center for treatment and later released, police said.

The assailants left the scene before police arrived, according to Montalbo.

Then at 8:01 p.m., in a reprisal, Carlos Maldonado Jr. and his brother Juan Maldonado, 27, drove to the Lua residence at 58 Marin St., broke the front window, kicked in the front door and attacked Lua, stabbing him several times in the torso, police said.

The Maldonado brothers then fled in what witnesses said was a dark-colored SUV-type of vehicle, Montalbo said.

Officers later that evening found Carlos Maldonado Jr. at 58 Miles Lane, where he was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, police said.

Early Wednesday morning, officers located Vega, Calderon, Isidro and the 17-year-old male juvenile across the street from 58 Miles Lane and arrested them after witnesses identified them.

All were booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and the 17-year-old was also arrested on suspicion of possessing methamphetamine, police said.

Officers also heard that Lua was present at the stabbing of the elder Maldonado and police have filed a request to arrest him as well, according to Montalbo.

Juan Maldonado is wanted for questioning by police in the assault on Marin Street and the 16-year-old boy is being sought for questioning about the assault on Miles Lane, Montalbo said.

Police are asking anyone with information about the incidents to call them at (831) 768-3352 or a crime tip line at (831) 768-3544.

© Copyright 2014 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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