The Tracy Police Department said today that a man could die from his injuries after another man attacked him early Sunday morning in the parking lot of West Valley Bowl.

As of this afternoon, police still had not found the suspected assailant.

City spokesman Matt Robinson said police believe Ricky Pina Jr., 34, may die from a severe head injury. Robinson said Pina was unconscious when police found him at 1:44 a.m. Sunday. He was rushed to Sutter Tracy Community Hospital and later transferred to Memorial Hospital in Modesto. Robinson said Pina was still unconscious as of this afternoon.

His suspected assailant, Louis Holt, 31, left the scene before police arrived and had not been found as of this afternoon. Police have issued a warrant for Holt’s arrest on suspicion of battery with serious injury.

The initial call on the fight came to police as a second-hand report of someone shot in the parking lot of West Valley Bowl, 2365 East St. The caller said the victim had been shot in the head and the suspect was still there with three other people.

An ambulance arrived but waited until police secured the scene before it moved in. Police detained one man at gunpoint but learned that he was not the assailant. Officers then determined that the victim had not been shot but had been struck in the head. Witnesses told police that Holt hit Pina in the face with his fist, and they didn’t see any weapons.

Police received reports that a blue pickup truck left the scene shortly after the fight, but witnesses also said they saw Holt walking away toward the west. Police went to the neighborhood around 23^rd Street and Parker Avenue, where they expected to find Holt, but he wasn’t there.

Robinson said Holt was let out of San Joaquin County Jail last week after a judge declared that there was insufficient evidence to pursue charges from a previous arrest in September. Holt was arrested on suspicion of carjacking, brandishing a weapon and making threats after he reportedly pulled a knife on a man and took his truck from West Valley Bowl parking lot on Sept. 17.

Robinson said it’s unclear if Pina or any other people at the scene Sunday morning were involved in the previous case.

In the previous case, the victim told police that Holt forced his way in the truck and drove the victim and his girlfriend to Wal-Mart. The truck was hit by another car as it sped away, according to police logs from that day, and Holt reportedly kept driving. The victim got out nearby and Holt reportedly drove off again, with the victim’s girlfriend still in the truck.

The victim’s family eventually found the truck abandoned. Police arrested Holt on Ninth Street shortly after midnight the next morning.

Tracy Crimestoppers, 831-6TIP, has offered a reward for any information that could lead to Holt’s arrest. He is described as a black man, 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds. He has lived in Tracy in the past, but police do not know his most recent address.

To reach reporter Bob Brownne call 830-4227 or e-mail brownne@tracypress.com.