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The name of the man who died following a violent attack outside the Center for Performing Arts in Mountain View earlier this month has still not been released to the public as of Wednesday morning, according to the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office.
The victim, whom police immediately identified as a 55-year-old man, died at Stanford Hospital around 6 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 5, after he was struck multiple times with a metal table, a metal chair and a bicycle. Preliminary autopsy results indicated that he died from “blunt force trauma to the face” after being struck in the head multiple times.
The suspect, 43-year-old Jan Neal of Marin County, is currently being held without bail in Santa Clara County jail and is facing charges including murder, obstructing or resisting a police officer and attempt to disarm an officer. Officers said Neal was still attacking the victim when they arrived and ignored commands to stop, continuing his assault even when officers struck him with a wooden baton and used a Taser in an attempt to control him.
The Santa Clara County prosecutor handling the case could not be reached following multiple requests for comment.
Staffers at the coroner’s office say the victim’s name, age and city of residence are being withheld until they can confirm his identity, and that the office has been unable to contact next of kin as of Nov. 15 — 10 days after the attack. The Mountain View Police Department has what officials believe is “potential” identification, which is why his age was revealed the night of the attack, but it’s the coroner’s office that makes the final determination on when to release the identity of the victim, according to police spokeswoman Katie Nelson.
Officers reported that the victim was already unconscious when they arrived at the downtown Civic Center Plaza on Saturday, Nov. 4, at around 6:30 p.m. After restraining the suspect, the victim was treated with emergency first aid before he was transported to Stanford Hospital in “serious condition.” The injuries include lacerations to the face, and his right eye was “completely removed from his eye socket,” according to a statement of fact submitted to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office by police.
This is the first homicide in Mountain View since 2014, and police are actively investigating the incident. Anyone who may have more information on the case is asked to contact Det. Dan Garcia at 650-903-6624.
Are we to infer that the victim was homeless which is why ID is hard?
Did Jan Neal live out of one of the RV’s?
Is it really that hard to notify the next of kin?
@ Gary’s: It depends. If none of his contact info reaches anyone, then yes, I would assume it is difficult.
@ Curious, the articles on the subject all clearly state that Neal is a resident of Marin County. Whether you intended it that way or not, comments like yours prime people to think badly of our local RV residents. Consider how it might have sounded if “Curious” had asked if a suspect was a minority, a recent immigrant, etc.
Why is the Mountain View Voice naming the suspect? Didn’t you just have a big thing about how you weren’t going to name suspects arrested in articles? We all know what your really meant by that, that only certain types of names wouldn’t be mentioned in articles. Apparently the last name Neal is allowed to be mentioned.
@BillyJoe There are exceptions to our policy on naming suspects and this is one of them. Here’s a quote from our policy:
“There are some exceptions, all of which are subject to our editorial judgment: the arrestee is a public figure, a public safety or school employee; the arrest was for a major “violent” crime; the arrest was the result of an extended police or FBI investigation; or, as decided by the editor, the crime is of broad public interest or concern.”