A 33-year-old man was charged Tuesday with beating a wheelchair-dependent man with cerebral palsy outside a Santa Ana fast-food restaurant, leaving the victim fighting for his life.
Vittorio Ronald Froncillo is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday on an attempted murder count, with a sentencing enhancement allegation of attempted premeditated murder. He also faces sentencing enhancement allegations of inflicting injury on an elder, causing great bodily injury and committing a crime while out on bail for another crime.
The 63-year-old victim, who lives in a group home, appeared to be minding his own business when he was attacked last weekend, said Senior Deputy District Attorney Mark Birney.
The victim, whose name was withheld, enjoys taking a bus to the McDonald's restaurant at 3810 S. Bristol St. on Saturdays and Sundays to drink coffee and do some "people watching," said Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna.
About 7 a.m. Sunday, a witness called police to report the victim was being beaten and bleeding heavily from the head, Bertagna said. The witness intervened to stop the attack and the suspect ran away, but police soon caught up with him and chased him down on foot, Bertagna said.
He said the victim was hooked up to life support machines and was in extremely critical condition.
At the time of the attack, Froncillo was out on bail on a felony count of stealing a vehicle on March 1. He pleaded not guilty to that count on March 6, court records show.
