Transgender woman targeted again after multiple brutal attacks at her Westlake business, police say

WESTLAKE, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Attacks against a transgender woman in Westlake continue as the men responsible returned again on Saturday, causing her serious injuries.

Detectives say the string of attacks started in April when a man sexually assaulted the woman -- discovering she was transgender, and threatening to kill her.

Since then, the man has returned to the woman's store multiple times with other people, committing several hate crimes, including hitting her with a skateboard and pepper-spraying her.

On Saturday night, the men got away before police arrived.

Detectives are still working to identify the men responsible for the attacks.

The victim, Sabrina de la Peña, spoke to Eyewitness News after one of the previous attacks.

De la Peña says the trouble started on April 8, when the suspect came in and bought water from her small convenience store. She says he attempted to flirt with her but became angry when she told him to leave. He then knocked her to the ground.

"I go back to my space and he pushed me... he pushed me down... on the floor and we start fighting on the floor," de la Peña said.

The suspect eventually ran away, but returned the next day with another man. In that incident, he started beating her with a skateboard.

"He take me to the alley, out my door... and he beating me, you know... and I got the skateboard, and I go over... but he left," she said.

De la Peña believes the suspect attacked her because she is transgender.

"I think he hate transgender women because he tell me many times... 'I'm gonna kill you,'" she said.

De la Peña says the suspect returned to her store two more times after that.

The woman's small business has been in the community for nearly 30 years, and she says this is the first time she has felt unsafe.

"You know how you feel when you think people didn't want you, didn't love you, because you are so different? We don't do nothing wrong... we are different, that's our life," said de la Peña.

The Los Angeles Police Department is urgently requesting the public's assistance in identifying and apprehending the suspects. Anyone with information is urged to contact LAPD Rampart Division Detectives at (213) 484-3495.