Robert Child, 68, of Idyllwild sustained facial injuries when he was assaulted at Chevron on Highway 243 Saturday around 5:45 p.m. according to CHP Officer David Kling. Rick Holmes, 67, of Idyllwild sustained facial and head injuries when he attempted to intervene. The suspect fled prior to authorities arriving on scene. Idyllwild Volunteer Company 621, CHP and Riverside County Sheriff all responded to the scene and Idyllwild Fire transported Child and Holmes to Eisenhower Medical Center. Photo by Jenny Kirchner

Two serious criminal incidents marred Idyllwild’s Christmas holiday.

On Friday, Dec. 22, around 5:45 p.m, Hemet Station sheriff’s deputies responded to the Idyllwild Chevron Station. Two older men, Robert Child, 68, and Rick Holmes, 67, both of Idyllwild, sustained facial and head injuries when a man attacked them. Child had been fueling his vehicle when the man, later identified as Alfredo Tartaglia, 26, of Idyllwild, attacked him for no apparent reason. When Holmes tried to intervene, Tartaglia also began pummeling him.

According to a Sheriff’s department press release, Tartaglia was arrested after witnesses and a surveillance video confirmed his identity. Deputies arrested him at his residence after a brief struggle and booked him into the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning. Tartaglia had a Dec. 27 court date at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta. He remains in custody and bail is set at $90,000. He is scheduled to have a felony settlement conference on Jan. 3, 2013, at 8:30 a.m.

Both victims required medical transportation to the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage.

Early Monday morning burglars smashed the front door of Forest Lumber to gain entry. Photo by Shane Fender

Continuing a string of commercial burglaries, burglars hit Forest Lumber in the early morning of Christmas Eve, Monday, Dec. 24. In what has become a familiar modus operandi, burglars broke into the store around 5 a.m. and took various items such as nail and roofing guns and pellet and BB guns.

To enter, burglars broke the glass in the front door (similar to the entry method at the Fairway Market burglary).

Hemet Station Investigator Brian Robertson was on the Hill both Wednesday and Thursday conducting further investigations into the Forest Lumber incident.

Anyone with information on this incident should call Hemet Station at (951) 791-3400.

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