New warrants issued for more charges

Police are seeking a man and woman in connection with a racially inspired attack in the Oak View neighborhood of Huntington Beach last month.

Four people have been charged with attempted murder following the July 3 assault of a Latino man, described as a hate crime by Huntington Beach Police Sgt. Russell Reinhart.

He said the four are members of the Public Enemy Number 1 white supremacist gang (also known as PENI or PEN1).

Huntington Beach residents Erin Brooks, 24, and Brian Hanson, 26, of Santa Ana are still at large.

The other two suspects, 21-year-old Michael Powell of Anaheim and Bret Hicks, 30, of Riverside have been in custody since the incident.

Reinhart said the four were cruising the 7800 block of Slater Avenue in the predominantly Latino neighborhood about 11:55 p.m July 3, searching for a victim.

“They were out looking to attack somebody,” Reinhart said. “It wasn’t just a random attack. They had the intent of finding somebody based on their race.”

They allegedly found their victim in an alley, then stabbed him three times before beating him, Reinhart said.

Police haven’t released the identity of the victim because of the nature of the crime, Reinhart said.

When neighbors discovered the attack, they came and began to “attack the attackers,” Reinhart said, chasing them off.

They told police what vehicle the suspects used to get away, and police arrested the suspects that night.

The victim was taken to the hospital for a short stay before being released.

Police originally charged the four with assault with a deadly weapon. Hanson and Brooks posted bail, but Powell and Hicks remain in prison, Reinhart said.

Police took the case to the county district attorney’s office, where additional charges of attempted murder and aggravated assault, with a sentencing enhancement for hate crimes, were added. New warrants then were issued for the arrests of Brooks and Hanson.

Reinhart said authorities hope the two will show up for their arraignments, which are scheduled in the near future.

Each of the suspects has prior convictions or involvements in crimes

“They all have long criminal histories,” Reinhart said.

Brooks was charged with being an accessory to murder after being found in a truck in which a murdered man’s body was found in 2004, Reinhart said.

Powell may have been involved in another local stabbing last November, Reinhart said, and was charged with gang-related assault with a deadly weapon.

Hicks has prior felonies for assault with a deadly weapon and car theft, authorities said, and Hanson also has felonies for assault with a deadly weapon and attempted robbery.

The four have various tattoos reading “skinhead” or depicting swastikas and Hitler-related symbols, authorities said.

Brooks has the word “white” tattooed on her right leg and “power” on her left, Reinhart said.