Violent attack in Huntington Beach leaves man with broken nose, black eye

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- A man is demanding accountability after he says he was attacked by a group on the boardwalk in Huntington Beach over the weekend.

Video of the attack shows the man getting shoved to the ground and then getting kicked.

"If the parents won't teach their kids right from wrong, let the justice system do it," Sam El-Said told Eyewitness News Wednesday.

Around 7:30 p.m. Saturday, El-Said and his wife were leaving dinner. They were on the Huntington Beach boardwalk riding their scooters home when they came across a large group of juveniles - many of them on e-bikes - when he was suddenly struck.

"I got hit in the face with a bottle, and I came off my scooter," El-Said recalled. "I wanted to look around to see who threw this and before I know it, I'm being jumped. I remember getting hit in the head and I blacked out."

Witnesses recording the attack show him regaining consciousness and standing up as the group of assailants fled. Police were called as El-Said's son tracked down one of the alleged attackers nearby. Police say he was arrested and cited for misdemeanor battery. A second suspect was caught Tuesday.

Huntington Beach police hosted an e-bike symposium Wednesday, hoping to come up with solutions to the growing challenges surrounding the popular vehicles.

"If you have these like-minded individuals that are trying to one up each other by who could do the craziest wheelie and get the most likes on social media, really it's like fuel on the fire," Huntington Beach police Sgt. Mike Thomas said.

As El-Said recovers from a broken nose, concussion and black eye, he says he's fearful someone else will get hurt if changes are not made.

"It's escalating," he said. "And it's not the e-bikes causing the problem, it's the kids on the e-bikes that are causing the problems."