Warrant issued for suspect

Police have a identified a Costa Mesa man as the suspected attacker in a botched residential burglary Tuesday morning that left a man hospitalized.

Police said Roman Soto, 21, a suspected gang member, is the man who broke into Efren Gonzalez’s home on Pomona Avenue just before 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Authorities believe Soto got into the house through an unlocked window and was planning to burglarize it, but was confronted by Gonzalez, 45, while inside. Soto punched and stabbed Gonzalez several times before running away without stealing anything but leaving his weapon behind, police said.

Authorities said he either knew Gonzalez or was told it was an ideal home to burgle, said Sgt. Bob Phillips. Either way, it was not a random crime, he said.

Gonzalez managed to make it outside and down the sidewalk toward Pomona Elementary School across the street to meet paramedics. A trail of blood leads from the home to where the medics picked him up. He was taken to Western Medical Center and underwent surgery for his wounds. Police said he is expected to survive.

Police searched Soto’s home later that night, but he wasn’t there. A $500,000 warrant has been issued for his arrest.

Prosecutors have charged him with attempted murder, attempted robbery, attempted burglary and threatening Gonzales to not report the crime. The charges are all enhanced on counts of inflicting great bodily injury and using a deadly weapon.

The incident did not appear to be gang- or drug-related, police said.

Court records show Soto was charged with several counts of assault with a deadly weapon while being a gang member and street terrorism in 2005.

The charges were dismissed four months later.