A 70-year-old Anaheim man died Monday after what police call an “unprovoked attack” by a man half his age.
The beating happened outside the victims’ home, leaving neighbors in shock and a suspect jailed for murder.
There is no evidence of weapons used according to police, they say it was a random bare-knuckled attack.
The motive is still unknown.
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Rahmatoloh Yaghoubi, also known as Davey, was a Caltrans engineer. He was confronted by an apparent stranger and killed in his front yard.
Jahangir Yaghoubi, the victim's brother, says he is left with heartache and disbelief.
“He was trying to retire. He says ‘I gotta take on projects before I retire.’ He took care of hazardous waste, fixing freeways, and tried to save the public every penny he could!”
We met the brother near Falmouth and Catalpa where police responded to the second unprovoked attack of the day in Anaheim.
“He was alive when he arrived at the hospital. He did go into emergency surgery. Unfortunately after about an hour and a half later, he did die of the injuries he sustained,” the spokesman for the Anaheim Police Department, Sgt. Shane Carringer said.
Minutes before police learned about the attack on the 70-year-old man, a similar incident occurred nearby at the 1300 block of Devonshire Road.
That victim was talking to investigators when calls came in about the second beating. They are working to determine if there’s a connection.
Police confirmed Monday night that there is a connection to a man that their helicopter located who fit the attacker’s description.
“That suspect is David Abbott, a 30-year-old male adult resident of Anaheim. He was contacted by police and taken into custody. He was arrested for the murder of our 70-year-old victim,” Carringer said.
Detectives say they want to hear from anyone who has had contact with David Steven Abbott or has been a victim of a similar assault. Police say he’s been in custody previously, accused of a knife attack.
“He was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon in Anaheim on May 15th of this year. He posted bail, $100K which led to his release from OC Sheriffs,” he added.
Loved ones and neighbors say Davey will be missed.
“He helped everybody he could! His door was always open; anybody could come over. Animals he fed, he’d go to the park and feed the homeless all the time,” his brother added.
Davey’s neighbor believes he was tending to neighborhood stray cats when he was attacked.
Police want to hear from anyone with info on David Abbott, who is jailed on a $2 million bail.
