A suspect remains at large after a man was brutally beaten on a West Hollywood sidewalk and was hospitalized.
The unprovoked attack occurred on March 17 when the victim, David Velasquez, was riding a scooter home from the store after purchasing cough medicine.
“I was driving east and he came back here and that’s when he hit me in the face,” Velasquez said.
The attack left him bloodied and suffered head trauma.
“I was lucky to have survived,” he said. “My whole life flashed before my eyes as he slammed my head into the ground.”
Velasquez said the attack occurred while he was walking on the sidewalk near Santa Monica Boulevard and Hancock Avenue.
The male suspect is said to have made homophobic insults to Velasquez. He then decided to confront the suspect – a decision he said he now regrets.
“He had his knee on me and tried to slam my head back into the pavement and said, ‘Die, fucking die!'” Velasquez recalls.
Residents of the area were shocked to hear about the brutal attack. Some said crime in West Hollywood has been steadily increasing.
“I’ve lived here for 18 years and I can say the last three years it’s been terrible,” said resident Chad Cromer.
Cromer said he feels unsafe walking on the streets these days and has also been a victim of street crime in the city.
“It’s very dangerous,” Cromer said. “It was about six months ago. I was walking and two small children saw my jewelry. They hit me in the face and ran away when they realized I was defying them.”
When Velasquez was attacked, he said passersby stopped to watch and record the attack on their cellphones, but no one stepped in to help until a man driving nearby jumped out of his car to intervene .
“I’m screaming for help and no one wanted to help me,” Velasquez said.
After escaping the attacker thanks to the help of the Good Samaritan, he said: “I called the police and then another girl [nearby] said: ‘I will also press charges because he attacked me too.'”
Both Cromer and Velasquez believe something needs to be done to address the worrying rise in daily crime. They said they would like to see more law enforcement patrolling the streets and for local lawmakers to take more action to address these attacks.
“They talk but they don’t walk and people get frustrated and so they move,” Cromer said.
Velasquez said he was lucky to escape with non-life-threatening injuries, but he fears the next victim may not be so lucky. He hopes the suspect will be caught soon.
“People get attacked for no reason, I don’t want him to do that to another person,” he said.
The suspect is described as a 6-foot-tall white male in his 30s. Velasquez said he was well dressed and heavily intoxicated at the time.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the case and seeking additional victims and witnesses to locate the suspect.
Anyone with information about the incident can call the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station at 310-855-8850.
Anonymous tips can be given to LA Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at lacrimestoppers.org.