Police say the incident happened near the 6500 block of Hollywood Boulevard Monday at about 2:15 a.m.
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Eden Estrada, one of the victims, says they were waiting for an Uber when a man who had been hassling them earlier while shopping came back and stole her phone.
While they tried to retrieve it, they say other men started gathering around and shouted at them. They were called slurs.
The three - who asked to be identified as women who happen to be transgender - say things got violent.
LAPD says the suspect returned with a metal bar and demanded the shoes and bracelet of one of the women.
She complied out of fear and the suspect grabbed her by the hand, they walked together for a short time before she was able to escape.
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"The man had approached me with a crowbar and he's like 'Give me your shoes, give me your bracelet,''' says Joslyn Allen.
"He literally grabs my hand and pulls me. He's like 'We're going to find your friends because I'm going to beat y'all up,'" Allen added.
The suspect later assaulted one of the victims with a "bottle and knocked her to the ground," according to LAPD.
Jaslene Busanet says the man hit her on the back of the head.
"I just collapsed to the floor," Busanet says.
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"There were men saying 'Oh, she's dead,' laughing at me," Busanet says.
People watched and recorded for more than five minutes. The women pleaded for someone to call 911.
"We thought we were going to die because the guy had left and he's going to come back, he has a crowbar," Estrada says.
The suspect is described as 25-year-old, Black, 6 feet tall and weighing 180 pounds. He was last seen wearing a black tank top and black shorts.
Police ask anyone with information to contact the LAPD's Hollywood station at (213) 972-2934.