Arrest made in violent attack on 70-year-old Sikh man in North Hollywood
NORTH HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- An arrest has been made in the brutal assault of a 70-year-old Sikh man in North Hollywood, police said Tuesday.
Harpal Singh was attacked with a golf club last Monday while on his afternoon walk near his place of worship, the Sikh Gurdwara of LA, in the area of Lankershim Boulevard and Saticoy Street, according to the Sikh Coalition.
The Sikh American civil rights group SALDEF said a suspect was arrested Monday at around 9:40 p.m. Los Angeles police identified the suspect as Bo Richard Vitagliano, 44. He was being held on $1.115 million bail, according to jail records.
Los Angeles police said there was a fight between the victim and suspect, who is unhoused.
"Witnesses advised that they did not see how the altercation began, but heard a loud commotion, then witnessed two men swinging metal objects at each other," police said in a news release. "Both individuals were struck. The suspect further assaulted the victim, while he was reportedly on the ground. Witnesses intervened by yelling at the suspect, at which time he rode away on his bicycle."
An arrest was made when officers spotted Vitagliano with his bicycle on Lankershim Boulevard and Arminta Street, according to the LAPD. Police said a picture of the suspect taken by surveillance cameras helped officers make the arrest.
Singh remains hospitalized in the ICU as he recovers from multiple surgeries to his head and face, SALDEF said in a news release.
He's undergone three surgeries in the past week for broken facial bones and bleeding on the brain.
Disturbing video from after the attack shows Singh sitting on the sidewalk in a pool of his own blood, with the weapon used in his attack still sitting at his feet.
The Sikh community has been a frequent target of attacks for decades, often in cases of mistaken identity by anti-Muslim attackers.
LAPD says Vitagliano has an extensive criminal record for narcotics, assault with a deadly weapon and various weapons charges.
Detectives believe the assault was not a hate crime but was "motivated by a dispute over property belonging to the victim." The Sikh Coalition issued a statement questioning the LAPD's findings.
"In the Sikh Coalition's view it is impossible to completely rule out a bias motive at this stage," the coalition said. "The suspect has been in custody for less than 24 hours, and the victim himself remains unconscious and has thus been unable to sit for a full and comprehensive police interview, with professional translation services, separate from the interview taken immediately after the attack."
LAPD says extra patrols will be made in the area.
