A man arrested on suspicion of running over a neighbor in a courtyard for apartments in Orange had fought with members of the victim’s family prior to the attack, authorities said Tuesday, June 16.
Orange police investigators still weren’t sure what sparked the fight between 28-year-old Abrahan Perez and his neighbors in the 600 block of South Fashion Park Street shortly before 10:30 p.m. Saturday, June 13, Sgt. Trevor Cullen said.
Perez briefly left in a car following the fight, but returned a short time later, hopped a curb and fatally struck 54-year-old Juan Mojica Cuevas of Orange, police said.
The Toyota sedan then went partially into one of the apartment buildings, according to footage from OC Hawk, a freelance news organization that sometimes works with the Southern California News Group.
Cuevas died at a hospital, police said.
Public records show Perez and Mojica lived in adjacent apartment buildings at Fashion Park Street and Fairway Drive.
Perez was arrested on suspicion of murder and remained behind bars as of Tuesday, inmate records show.
Orange police and firefighters responded to the 600 block of South Fashion Park Street after a man allegedly drove a car up a curb, struck a pedestrian and ended up partially into an apartment building on Saturday, June 13. (Photo by OC Hawk)
On a GoFundMe page set up to support Cuevas’ wife and raise money for funeral expenses, Cuevas was described as “the definition of kindness. He was a genuine, helpful soul who would give you the shirt off his back without a second thought.”
On the night of the crime, Cuevas was “trying to keep his children from danger,” family members wrote. “He lived with a disability that made it difficult to move quickly and he was unable to get out of harm’s way.”
Cuevas leaves behind his wife, six children and two grandchildren, they wrote, adding that he was the family’s sole provider.
The fundraiser, seeking $11,000, had raised more than $9,000 as of Tuesday morning.