Man arrested on suspicion of hitting another with club

Newport Beach police on Thursday arrested a San Bernardino man suspected of bludgeoning another man over the head with a golf club.

The suspect, Ricardo O. Martinez, 18, was under the Newport Pier when he heard that the victim, a Garden Grove man, had made comments about his girlfriend, Sgt. Evan Sailor said.

According to the reports, the man walked off and returned with a golf club just before 4 a.m. and hit the other man in the head, Sailor said.

Martinez then allegedly jumped in his car and drove off, but officers caught up to him at West Coast Highway near Highland Street and arrested him soon after, Sailor said.

The Garden Grove man was treated for a laceration on his head.

Martinez was booked at the Newport Beach City Jail where he is being held on $25,000 bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned this morning at Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach, police said.

— Kelly Strodl