Hollywood Man Assaulted While Attacker Screams, “Die, F****t, Die!”
Victim says a man in West Hollywood knocked him off his scooter, then tried to smash his head against the pavement.
Police in West Hollywood are searching for a man who assaulted another while man yelling anti-gay slurs. He is also believed to have assaulted other individuals in the area.
The victim of the anti-gay assault, David Velasquez, told the WeHo Times that, on Sunday, March 17, he was coming back from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he had been treated earlier in the day for severe cold and flu symptoms.
He stopped by the Pavilions in WeHo to pick up medication and was riding his personal scooter home when the altercation occurred.
Velasquez noted that he was riding on the sidewalk to avoid being hit by potentially drunk drivers as he made his way through West Hollywood on a particularly raucous St. Patrick’s Day.
“I was right three in front of the Tender Greens — the one on Santa Monica and Hancock — and then…I was passing by this random guy, and he just like out of nowhere slapped me with his left hand and smacked my helmet off, smacked me in the face,” Velasquez told the newspaper.
Velasquez confronted the man, asking him what his problem was. Following a back-and-forth argument, the man wrestled him to the ground and began hitting him, trying to throw his phone in the street.
“He’s bashing my head and has his knee on top of my chest, trying to smash my head into the street,” Velasquez recalled. “‘Die, f****t, die,’ he kept saying.”
Velasquez said his attacker stopped after a man who jumped out of a Chevy Suburban intervened. Velasquez managed to escape and run down Hancock Avenue.
Afterwards, Velasquez was approached by a Black girl, accompanied by two Latina women, who claimed to have been slapped without provocation by the same man.
Velasquez called the police. By the time they arrived on scene, the woman who claimed to also have been assaulted had left. Police called an ambulance and transported Velasquez back to Cedars-Sinai, where he was treated for a cut lip and head trauma.
A spokesman for the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Office told the WeHo Times that a detective has been assigned to the case and the investigation remains ongoing.
It remains unclear whether the case is being investigated as a hate crime, but charges could ultimately be brought, with the assailant’s use of homophobic slurs being used as evidence of anti-LGBTQ animus.
The suspect, who remains at large, is described as a Caucasian male in his 30s, around 6 feet tall, with a muscular build and a beard. He is described as nicely dressed and appeared to be very inebriated at the time of the attack.
Those who believe they may have information about the assault or the identity of the suspect are encouraged to leave anonymous tips by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), by texting 274637 (CRIMES), or leaving a tip at the Los Angeles Crime Stoppers website at www.lacrimestoppers.org.
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