Inland Empire prosecutor attacked while jogging in Newport Beach; police probe possible links to her job

Police are looking for a man who attacked a San Bernardino County deputy district attorney while she was jogging in Newport Beach early Thursday.

Newport Beach police received a call at 5:50 a.m. from an employee at Newport Workout, at 747 Dover Drive, who reported that a female jogger came into the business saying she had been attacked.

The woman had a cut on her head and was taken to a trauma center for treatment, according to Newport Beach police spokeswoman Jennifer Manzella.

Police do not suspect the man was trying to sexually assault or rob the woman, Manzella said. It is not clear what his motivation might have been.

The woman told police her attacker was a man, but couldn’t provide a more detailed description.

Manzella said detectives are looking into the possibility that the crime may have been linked to the woman’s profession.

“We’re looking at all opportunities to determine the motive and utilize as many leads as we can to determine who the suspect might be,” Manzella said.

A trainer at Newport Workout told KCBS Thursday that the woman is a deputy district attorney involved in a murder trial in the Inland Empire.

Christopher Lee, a spokesman for the San Bernardino County district attorney’s office, wrote in an email that “a member of our office was involved in an incident that is currently under investigation.” He declined to provide other details, citing the ongoing investigation and the employee’s privacy.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Newport Beach Police Department main line at (949) 644-3717 or the detective’s bureau at (949) 644-3750.

hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @HannahFryTCN

UPDATES:

4:50 p.m.: This article was updated with information from the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office.

This article was originally published at 2:10 p.m.