Woman arrested in beating of 92-year-old with brick
The New York Times
A woman was arrested late Tuesday in the beating of a 92-year-old man in Los Angeles County in which the attacker reportedly told the manto “go back to Mexico.”
The beating left him bloodied, bruised and bewildered about why he was attacked.
The woman, Laquisha Jones, 30, of Los Angeles was charged with assault with a deadly weapon, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, and was held on $200,000 bail.
A witness, Misbel Borjas, told CNN and other news organizations that the attacker used a brick in the beating of the man, who was identified by the authorities as Rodolfo Rodriguez. Several men soon joined in the attack.
The beating occurred around 7:30 p.m. on July 4 in an area of unincorporated Los Angeles County, a statement from the sheriff’s department said. It’s known as Willowbrook and is about 15 miles south of downtown Los Angeles. Mr. Rodriguez, who was visiting the area, was hospitalized for several hours, and is now recovering with family, the statement said.
On July 5, Ms. Borjas posted a video on Facebook in which Mr. Rodriguez can be seen sitting on the ground next to a red-stained sidewalk, the right side of his face spilling blood. He later gave interviews on television as he lay in bed, his face still covered in cuts and bruises.
“I can’t walk anymore,” Mr. Rodriguez, who was visiting family in the area, told CNN in Spanish. “I’m in so much pain.”
The police did not immediately determine a motive, and said Tuesday that they are still searching for the other men. But according to CNN, Ms. Borjas said she heard the attacker, a black woman, saying: “Go back to your country. Go back to Mexico.” She gave similar accounts to The Los Angeles Times and other news organizations — “It was racist,” she told the LA Times — but did not respond to follow-up interview requests.
Mr. Rodriguez is a permanent resident of the United States, his grandson Erik Mendoza told The Washington Post.
A weapon has not been found. Mr. Rodriguez said to CNN that the woman told a group of men nearby — the men who came over and began kicking him on the ground — that he had tried to take away her daughter.
“But that’s not true,” he said, according to CNN, adding that he had not bumped into a child. “In the years I have been alive, I have never offended anyone.”
Ms. Borjas told CNN she tried to help Mr. Rodriguez, but the woman threatened her, too. Ms. Borjas snapped a photo of the woman, who was with a young girl.
Mr. Mendoza told CNN that his grandfather sustained a broken jaw, broken cheekbones, two broken ribs and bruises on his face, back and abdomen. He said Mr. Rodriguez visits from Michoacán, Mexico, twice a year and walks through the neighborhood every day after lunch.
“I was in shock that someone would hurt my grandfather,” he said to the Post. “What kind of harm can he mean to anyone?”
In a bedside interview with Noticias 62, a Spanishlanguage station in Los Angeles, Mr. Rodriguez said he was happy to be alive.
“God has given me his blessing,” he said.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the department’s homicide bureau at 1-323890-5500.
“We want to thank the local residents for all of their kindness and support while Mr. Rodriguez recovers,” the LASD said.
Mr. Rodriguez’s attack comes after the Justice Department released its recent hate-crime statistics, reported by KCRA. The 2017 California report, which was the first published since President Donald Trump took office, evinced an uptick of more than 17 percent, with anti-Hispanic and antiLatino crimes soaring over 50 percent last year, according to the Sacramento Bee.