Los Angeles police have arrested a 19-year-old woman suspected of attacking a hot dog street vendor in downtown Los Angeles in a violent episode that was captured on video and sparked public outrage.
Police identified the suspect as Harmunie Heaven Church of Los Angeles. She has been booked on suspicion of felony battery with great bodily injury and is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
The attack, which was captured on video and shared on social media, led to condemnation of the perpetrator and an outpouring of support for the food vendor, who was identified by her family members as Arabelia Martinez, 62.
On June 15, LAPD officers were called to the 700 block of Figueroa Street around 4 p.m. to investigate reports of a battery. Police said the dispute involved a hot dog street vendor and a pedestrian.
A video of the attack shows a woman pouring something over the vendor’s food, prompting Martinez to throw what appeared to be powdered spices at the woman, who then goes around the cart and begins to assault Martinez.
The video then shows the woman throwing Martinez to the ground, grabbing her by the hair and repeatedly attacking her as bystanders try to step in and help.
At one point, Martinez is helped up from the ground and tries to walk away but the woman continues the attack, beating her head and face, causing Martinez to fall to the ground again.
An unidentified woman on TikTok, using the username Ladydope6, posted several videos this week in which she spoke off camera as she discussed the incident, suggesting she’s the woman seen in the video attacking the vendor.
In one video, she said she poured a Mexican condiment — chimoy — on the street vendor’s hot dogs because the vendor refused to serve her due to racial discrimination.
“When I walked up to her I had money. She told me: ‘Me no serve your people,’” the woman claimed in the video. “So, yes, I retaliated. I put chimoy on her hot dogs but I did nothing physical to her.”
The woman claimed that the street vendor had thrown the Mexican seasoning — Tajin — on her face.
“That s— do feel damn near like pepper spray, damn near,” she said in the video. “You thought that I was just gonna sit there and let her throw Tajin at me? How do I know what’s coming next, how do I know after I can’t see that you’re going to do something else?”
The TikTok user did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Martinez has shared a different version of what happened. In an interview with Univision, Martinez said the woman was asking for free food. She told the Spanish news station that she’s shocked by what happened to her.
“Never in my life did I think I would go through something difficult like this,” she told the station.
A GoFundMe page created by Martinez’s daughter to raise money for therapy and to replace the damaged items so far has raised a little more than $120,000.
“My mom has dedicated herself to her work every single day, rain or shine, to provide for our family,” according to the page. “She is one of the most resilient and loving people I know, and no one deserves what happened to her. The assault not only left her physically and emotionally shaken, but also resulted in damage to the items she works so hard to maintain.”
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