Santa Barbara man arrested for allegedly punching grandfather pushing baby in stroller in Calabasas

CALABASAS, Calif. (KABC) -- A 29-year-old man from Santa Barbara was arrested Tuesday for allegedly punching a man in his 60s who was pushing his infant granddaughter in a stroller in a Calabasas neighborhood.

According to the sheriff's department, Angel Sanchez Jr. was arrested around 2:15 p.m. in Oxnard. He's also suspected in a second attack against a boy that occurred around the same time in the same general area, investigators said.

Sanchez was booked at the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff's Station for assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury.

The sheriff's department said both victims were of Asian-American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) descent but a motive is unclear.

"Although both victims of the assaults were of Asian descent, the motive for the attacks is currently under investigation," said the sheriff's department.

The first attack occurred shortly before 5 p.m. in the 4000 block of Lost Springs Road, just west of Lost Hills Road, sending both victims to the ground in a disturbing incident that was captured on surveillance video.

The footage, recorded by a surveillance camera mounted on a nearby home, shows the suspect walking up to the grandfather and punching him in the face, knocking the man to the pavement and overturning the stroller onto its side.

The attacker then walks over to a minivan that's parked in a nearby driveway, gets into the vehicle and drives away as the dazed grandfather stumbles to his feet.

Both the man who was struck and the 10-month-old child were said to have escaped serious injury.

Minutes later, a boy was assaulted on a bike path that runs along nearby Las Virgenes Road, said Sgt. Brandon Painter, a spokesman for the Sheriff's Department. Whether that victim was seriously injured was unclear.

Anyone with information about both incidents is asked to call Detective Parks of the sheriff's Malibu/Lost Hills station at (818) 878-1808.