Crime & Safety
Suspect In Random, Violent Gas Station Attack Arrested
Police say they arrested a 300-pound man who brutally beat a woman as she pumped gas, and another woman said he attacked her, too.
GARDENA, CA — A 300-pound, shirtless man, who randomly attacked and beat a woman at a Gardena gas station is in custody, police announced Friday. Authorities believe he may be connected to another random attack in the area as well.
The suspect, who was turned into police by a concerned family member, is allegedly the same man captured on surveillance video approaching a woman as she pumped gas and punching her in the face repeatedly.
The attack occurred at a Sinclair station in the 500 block of Rosecrans Avenue, near Figueroa Street, about 7:10 p.m. last Saturday, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, which confirmed the man was in custody.
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The victim was pumping gas into her Honda Civic when the unidentified man parked directly in front of her, got out of his SUV, silently approached and punched her, knocking her to the ground, said Deputy Grace Medrano.
While she lay on the ground, he repeatedly punched her in the face, grabbed her hair and slammed her head against her vehicle and the ground multiple times.
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Video footage shows several men approach the suspect while the woman was still on the ground, and one touches the assailant's arm, before he walks calmly back to his vehicle and drives away.
The woman, whose name was not released, told deputies she did not recognize the shirtless man and that he didn't take any personal property from her, sheriff's officials said.
She was taken to a hospital for treatment of serious injuries to her face and head, but has since been released and is recuperating at home, Medrano said.
After release of video of the Gardena beating, a second woman came forward to say she was also attacked by the suspect the same day, according to the sheriff's department.
The 63-year-old woman told deputies she sustained minor injuries when she was attacked in Willowbrook, near the intersection of Rosecrans Avenue and Avalon Boulevard, last Saturday.
City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.
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