Orange : Police Say ‘Victim’s’ Cuts Traced to Store Burglary

A Huntington Beach man who police were told was a stabbing victim was arrested Monday, the apparent victim of the store window he allegedly broke during a burglary, authorities said.

Police Investigator Bob Gustafson said that James Doughty Shodahl, 21, of Huntington Beach was found on the floor, bleeding from his left leg, when officers arrived at a house in Orange early Monday. They had been summoned by a resident of the house, who thought Shodahl had been stabbed, Gustafson said.

Shodahl’s girlfriend, whom officers did not identify, said they had been driving in Tustin after 2 a.m. Monday when Shodahl parked the car at North Tustin and Meats avenues. He told her it had broken down, then walked away, saying he had to use a lavatory. He did not returned for “quite a while,” Gustafson quotes the girlfriend as saying.

Officers, taken to the spot where the car was left, followed a trail of blood to the One Hour Cleaners at 2080 N. Tustin Ave., where they found the front window smashed.

Gustafson said a burglar apparently had entered the store through a roof vent, then left by smashing the front window with a chair.

He said $380 found in Shodahl’s car was seized as evidence.