UPDATED: 4 Teens Arrested in Brutal Skateboard Attack

Police have arrested four teenage skateboarders on suspicion of attempted murder after they allegedly beat a 25-year-old man to the brink of death with their skateboards in Huntington Beach, officials said.

Viktor Silcock was found with severe head injuries in the Surf City Coin Laundry, 6949 Warner Ave., just before 8 p.m. Friday, Huntington Beach police Lt. Mitch O'Brien said. The trouble apparently began during a fight between two groups of skateboarders in nearby Mundy Park, police said.

When a woman tried to break up the fight, the boys began to beat her, police said. When the woman's boyfriend intervened, the teens chased him to a nearby coin-operated laundry, where they allegedly pummeled him with their skateboards,  O'Brien told City News Service.

When police arrived, the teens scattered.

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Some witnesses said the boyfriend attacked the teens with a screwdriver while two of the youths were fighting over an iPod in the park, leading to the larger brawl that spilled across the street and into the laundromat.

David Castellanos, 19, told NBC4 he was "screaming bloody murder" at the man in an effort to protect his friends.

"He looks at me and I don't know what to do," he told Channel 4, noting he was surrendering to police but saying he was stabbed twice during the brawl. "I run for my life."

He told the station the man didn't deserve the injuries he suffered, but said, "I definitely didn't deserve what I got, you know, for protecting my friends. I think it all got blown out of proportion, to be honest with you."

Silcock was taken to UCI Medical Center, where he remained in critical condition Monday morning.

Four teens aged 14 to 16 were eventually caught and booked at Orange County Juvenile Hall on suspicion of attempted murder, O'Brien said. Police were looking for three other boys, he said.

Anyone with information on the assault was asked call Huntington Beach police Detective Pat Ellis at 714-536-5971.