Video captures Danish tourist being sucker-punched on Los Angeles boardwalk
· Toronto Sun
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The brutal attack on a Danish tourist in Los Angeles last month has police on the hunt for one outstanding suspect.
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The Los Angeles Police Department said the unidentified man was beaten unconscious near the Venice Beach Boardwalk just after midnight on Oct. 30.
In surveillance footage released by police last week, one of the alleged attackers slaps a tourist standing against a pole. The suspect also smacks something out of the victim’s hands, then steps on the fallen object as the victim tries to reach for it, leading to a struggle between the two.
The same suspect also reaches into the victim’s pocket. At that point, another man approaches them and sucker-punches the victim, knocking him out.
Both suspects identified
The LAPD said the victim had a laceration to the right side of his head and was rushed to a hospital with serious injuries, NBC Los Angeles reported.
Shortly after the release of the video, a suspect surrendered to police.
The LAPD on Tuesday said Aiden Shaw, 25, of Turlock, Calif., turned himself in on Friday and was booked on suspicion of felony battery with his bail set at $50,000.
Authorities also identified the second suspect as Malik Preatto, of Los Angeles.
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Resident unsurprised about attack
Preatto allegedly appears to be the first suspect who slapped the victim.
The president of the area’s neighbourhood improvement organization told NBC Los Angeles that he wasn’t surprised by the attack.
“We’ve been seeing these kinds of assaults and it’s not surprising to see them here around the Venice Pier,” Mark Ryavec, president of the Venice Stakeholders Association, told the news outlet.
“People feel an immunity to be able to commit these kinds of crimes in Venice and in other parts of the city.”