Assault Charges Filed in Good Samaritan Case

Prosecutors filed charges Tuesday against a Santa Ana man accused of punching and seriously injuring a good Samaritan who stopped to help after seeing him lying on the sidewalk.

Jeffrey Davis, 34, faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life under the state’s three-strikes law if he is convicted of assaulting Raymond Zimmerman.

Orange County sheriff’s officials said Zimmerman stopped to help Davis Friday afternoon after seeing him lying outside a supermarket in Stanton. Davis punched Zimmerman in the face, officials said.

Zimmerman fell and struck his head on the sidewalk. He was rushed to UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange, where officials said Tuesday that his condition was upgraded from serious to good.

Davis was convicted in 1993 of armed robbery and attempted extortion with a gun, making him eligible for sentencing under the state’s three-strikes law, authorities said.