By Brian Park
San Juan Capistrano Mayor John Taylor. Photo by Brian Park
San Juan Capistrano Mayor John Taylor was attacked by two unknown assailants Saturday night, while walking with his wife from a Christmas party, an Orange County Sherriff’s Department spokesman said.
The attack occurred around 11:30 p.m., in front of the Ramos House Café, as Taylor and his wife, Marianne, were walking southbound on Los Rios Street, according to Jim Amormino, the department’s director of media relations.
Taylor and his wife heard footsteps behind them and moved aside when one of the attackers punched Taylor in the head, knocking him to the ground. Both suspects began punching and kicking Taylor in the face area, said Amormino.
Taylor’s wife called for help and attempted to stop the attackers. The assault stopped shortly after Taylor’s wife yelled that they were attacking the mayor. The two then ran off toward an unknown location.
The two suspects are described as Hispanic males, about 6 feet in height and about 220 pounds.
Taylor was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was treated for cuts and bruises to his head and later released.
“He was transported to the hospital for cuts and contusions to his face and scalp,” Amormino said. “He’s doing okay now. He’s bandaged up.”
The attack appears to be random and unrelated to Taylor’s position as mayor, Amormino said. No personal property was taken in the assault.
“There was no demand for money, so the motive is unknown at this time. Nothing was taken from either the mayor or the mayor’s wife,” Amormino said. “There’s nothing in our investigation at this stage which would indicate his position as mayor had anything to do with the attack.”
Taylor and his family have lived in the Los Rios Historic District for more than 20 years, according to the city’s website.
“The mayor is doing alright. He’s still performing all his city duties,” the city’s Chief of Police Services Lt. John Meyer said.
Authorities are canvassing the area for witnesses.
Witnesses who might have information are asked to call the Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s Watch Commander at 714.628.7170.
sort of goes along with having a sanctuary city..Welcome to Tijuana North.
down town is their turf..
Johnc77,
What Kind of a Negative Comment is That? You Take a Sad News Story and Express Your Narrow Minded Comment. We Live in The Greatest Town in Southern California. You Need to “Move On”!! Shame On You!!
Tom Hribar
You tell him, Tom!
There is a problem with gangs etc in SJC. I as a woman don’t dare walk down Los Rios street at night or dusk. Have we forgotten that a women was raped down towards that area? I have friends that live down La Zanja, but I get in and I get out. I agree with “Johnc77″ as far as we are not blind.
It is a great little town if you live in certain neighborhoods.
It doesn’t take but 10 mins for anyone of those gang members to walk across town though.
Tom, I’m sorry that this happened to our Mayor, but I think it is a definite wake up call for him. Everything isn’t board meetings, cocktail parities, Mercedes & BMWs….. There are issues in this town that need to be addressed.
He is Right….this is a mugging and Hate crime..they were going to show that white who is boss by kicking him into a coma like Brian Stow….many recent attacks like this have been reported in other towns.
Tom, after living in South Orange County most of my long life. I have seen the changes to our city. Now at this time, I am not blaming a gang, illegal aliens, or anyone, but 2 men about 6 feet tall, 220 lbs and Hispanic for attacking 2 people in our city. I think it prudent however, to mention with a clear head, that over time, our city has accepted and adopted that we will effectively ignore a growing population of people who are undocumented. We do little to nothing about it. I told our previous Mayor, that by ignoring the issue – we are creating higher risk for crime. Frankly, being undocumented in the USA is a crime. Our crime statistics do not reflect that population. What some of us who have been impacted by a 2nd crime of that population.. which is probably every citizen – (tax fraud, welfare fraud, unlicensed drivers allowed to get away, evasion of a ticket because the driver did not give true information regarding identity) we pay for that. We as citizens are forced to ignore, live with people who immigrated without permission, and have a disparity in knowing what our risk factor might be in terms of crime – because we do not know these people’s history, background, etc. Not all people of a culture are bad. But if someone is here and undocumented they are committing a crime.. period. So sorry for the Mayor and his wife. I hope he has a speedy recovery. And I hope that at some point we wake up and take initiative again to eliminate crime in our city.
Johnnc77 makes a coward’s statement with his annonymous tail tucked in, nothing will ever be “their” turf on my watch, never!
To tom hribar and Jerry Wheeler:
I wish I had never started reading this blog. I usually never do. I’ve lived in this “town” for over 30 years. I’ve watched it change over these years. I usually leave these changes to God’s Will.
Will you tom, and you, Jerri please take Tom’s email and apply it to yourselves? Maybe I don’t agree with John’s email, but if he has an opinion I will respect that opinion. You are acting worse than John. Your negative comments are narrow minded. Maybe it depends on who you are whether we “live in the greatest town in Southern California”. And telling someone to “move on” is downright cruel!
I’m sure that God is the only one who knows everyone’s circumstances. Maybe they can’t “move on”. Maybe they are terrified of going outside at night because they don’t want to end up in the hospital or lose all the money they have in their pockets. I’m sure many of us have had these kind of experiences. I have. Both side are so negative! that’s why I don’t read blogs!
This used to be AMERICA..built on Revolution and home to rugged Pioneers…now you have to be afraid to go out at night?
hmmm….seems awfully WEIRD in yer “greatest city”…
You may want to beef up security in your Wagon Train…
Fearing for your lives..What lives?? Living in Fear…??
How funny……this is unacceptable and you folks should stand up to crime and take your town back……how disgusting.
Mr. Taylor,
I hope your doing much better, and look forward to seeing you at Starbucks. I just found out about your situation on the chanel four
news this morning. God bless a speedy recovery.
Enjoy a wonderful Christmas and a joyous New Years.
…so you have gangs, rapes, and now beatings in your town? It USED to be a nice town..repleat with outrageous home prices..you will need more police in your town or things will become like Santa Ana for you.
These things get WORSE over time..not better UNLESS you get Pro Active AGAINST crime in your town…if you Post a description and sketchof the suspects..what they were wearing? The public could try to identify these savages before they attack(rape) another victim? Some of you have rose colored glasses on….Fight back for a change…Take your town back…why would you allow CRIME GANGS in your town??? Who is tolerating this???? Take Action…how about a SKETCH of the suspects??
@Mike jones. you know.. I am not sure where you are.. or what town.
Every town should be reasonably prepared for crime. Yes we have an issue here. We have gang injunction permanently. We tried to fight back. However, at this time, we are in a position, and I have no idea why.. of apathy. The area that the mayor was attacked in, is on the gang injunction map. It is unfortunate. Years ago a man was deported. His children were supposed to be picked up by his brother. However the father failed to put family members on the emergency card. The school followed policy and did not release the children to the brother. The children went to Orangewood, and Border Patrol became the villan. Personally it was the father’s fault. But, BP met with the community of undocumented – and since that time.. that population grew. I spoke with BP in San Clemente. They said, it takes a phone call from OCSD they will pick up anyone in 15 mins. OCSD is concerned about being sued I think for profiling. At least that is what was indicated to me by our chief of police last year. (pointing to Arizona, Arapio). So, I am not saying that these people were illegal. I am saying that since that point.. where BP no longer picks up.. in fact that population threw rocks at the BP cars as they left after striking their deal.. a bit of history..
Native…thanks for the update!!! It does shed some light on a Quagmire of B.S. Arizona has similar problems and Sherriff Joe has to fight the Feds to make a bust!
The border patrol looks the other way constantly unless they are down at the border…they obey orders of course from whoever desires having gang infestations and illegal alien campsites and Sanctuary Cities…..all B.S.
Apathy, Lethargy….leads to FEAR…of the criminals….
Something needs to CHANGE or it will get worse.
Alot of Southern California is watching what you people plan to do about this……being Pacifists…is NOT an Option…you have citizens who need Protection from Oppressive Violent Criminals……Take Action or it WILL get Worse….
The big side-story here is that other news reports censored the suspect-description, “Hispanic,” from their politically-correct, sanitized version of this awful assault. One offender is even the San Juan Capistrano Patch, where this censorship was justified in a moronic rationale. San Juan is now 30% Hispanic, a noted sanctuary-city with a huge illegal population and the resulting gangs to boot. Keep ignoring it, people, and watch these incidents escalate.