[UPDATED with Booking Photo:] Andrew James Jurjaks, Skinhead Brother of Hate Crime Convict, Held in Murder Attempt


UPDATE, MAY 23, 2:23 P.M.: The Costa Mesa Police Department has released the booking photo of Andrew James Jurjaks, the 30-year-old local skinhead accused of trying to fatally stab a man early Tuesday.

The full version of the shot at right follows on the next page . . .

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ORIGINAL POST, MAY 23, 9:32 A.M.: Skinhead Andrew James Jurjaks was arrested on suspicion of
attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon Tuesday for an
early-morning stabbing of a 36-year-old man near a Costa Mesa
Circle-K market.

If that has a familiar ring, it's because the 30-year-old's brother, Chad Martin Jurjaks, pleaded guilty in January to felony hate-crime attacks outside a Costa Mesa 7-Eleven.


Around 4:20 a.m. Tuesday, police and fire personnel were called to the Circle-K at 111 Del Mar Ave. about a man bleeding and in need of medical help. He was treated at the scene by paramedics and taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that included a deep laceration to the left forearm, a laceration to the left bicep and a puncture to the left upper back area, according to a statement from Costa Mesa Police Lt. Paul Dondero.

The unidentified victim, who had been in a verbal argument with a man that escalated into the stabbing, stumbled into the market after his attacker fled. Officers were able to follow a trail of blood from the area to the Regency Inn at 2544 Newport Blvd., Costa Mesa.

Witnesses provided information that led detectives to suspect 29-year-old Andrew Jurjaks, who is described as “a self-admitted skinhead” in Dondero's statement. Jurjaks has a room at the Regency Inn, although he was not there when police arrived.

Further investigation took detectives to an apartment in the 2300 block of Elden Avenue, where the unit was watched until Jurjaks was seen leaving the apartment and entering an arriving taxi. The cab was stopped in the 200 block of 20th Street and Jurjaks was taken into custody without incident around 10 a.m. Tuesday, police say.

Jurjaks was initially booked into Costa Mesa Jail on suspicion of attempted homicide and assault with a deadly weapon before being taken to Orange County Jail in Santa Ana, where his bail was set at $500,000. No hate crime counts have been filed in this case.

A folding knife that was believed to be the attacker's weapon has not been found, according to Dondero.

“Due to ongoing aspects of this investigation, a photo of Jurjaks is not being released, and the victim's name and treating hospital are being withheld,” reads Dondero's original statement. (Note: Police released the photo this afternoon.)

Here is the booking photo of Chad Jurjaks:


Over the objections of the Orange County District Attorney's office, the 29-year-old was sentenced Feb. 17 to two years and
eight months in state prison after pleading guilty to two felony
counts of hate crime battery causing injury.

Chad Jurjaks yelled “Fucking Mexicans” at a
42-year-old Latino man and his 26-year-old nephew before punching them
outside a 7-Eleven in Costa Mesa in March 2011. Due to the violent nature of the crime, prosecutors recommended the Caucasian brawler be sentenced to four years in prison.

Even that would have been a break for Jurjaks, as a sentencing
enhancement prosecutors originally filed alleging a prior strike conviction
for
criminal threats in 2006 had the defendant looking at the possibility of seven years and
four months in a prison cell.

It will be interesting to see now if he'll be inside long enough for a possible family reunion down the road.

Previous coverage:

This 2006 story predicted hate crimes rising in Costa Mesa:

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