Paintball attack suspects sought

A homeless man who was attacked by teenagers armed with paintball guns has been released from the hospital and will not lose sight in his right eye as physicians earlier feared, police said Monday.

According to police, Gregory Dahlgren, 48, was sleeping in the alley behind P K Burgers near Placentia Avenue and Center Street in Costa Mesa about 9 p.m. Friday when a group of five or six teenagers approached him, several of them carrying paintball guns.

“They approached him from distance. It doesn’t appear that they said anything,” Det. Carlos Diaz said.

The group, unprovoked, unloaded between 25 and 35 paintballs on Dahlgren, who tried to block the barrage with his arms and hands, police said.

While many of the welts and bruises were to his arms, at least one paintball struck Dahlgren’s face, severely damaging his right eye, officials said. Dahlgren was able to get away and run to a nearby liquor store on 19th Street where bystanders flagged down police and helped him, Diaz said.

Initially, authorities weren’t sure if they’d be able to save vision in the eye or even the eye itself, but by Monday he was released from Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, with his eye appearing to be on the mend, Diaz said.

Paintballs are about the size of marbles with stiff shells meant to crack on impact. Paintball guns regularly shoot balls at more than 300 feet per second.

Police have scant descriptions of the suspects, only that they were teenagers likely between 15 and 18 years old, wearing jeans and T-shirts.

“Unprovoked, they began shooting at him,” Diaz said. “It could’ve been a prank gone wrong. But at the same time, it was intentional.”

Suspects arrested will likely be booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and possibly robbery, both felonies, Diaz said. No one has stepped forward as a witness to the attack, he said.

Anyone with more information is urged to call Diaz at (714) 754-5097.