A manhunt is underway after a 70-year-old Sikh man, who remains in a medically induced coma, was nearly bludgeoned to death with a golf club in North Hollywood earlier this month in what’s being considered a possible hate crime.
The brutal violence unfolded at about 3:15 p.m. on Aug. 4 outside a 7-Eleven store near the intersection of Saticoy Street and Lankershim Boulevard.
Witnesses said that a man on a bicycle approached the 70-year-old and for reasons that are unclear savagely attacked him with the golf club, leaving behind the weapon and a dazed victim soaked in his own blood.
Surveillance footage of the incident is too graphic to show, though video of the aftermath shows the victim sitting on the ground, the golf club at his feet as others approach, presumably to help him.
Detectives with the Los Angeles Police Department are now searching for the suspect who is wanted for assault with a deadly weapon.
Friends of the victim, identified as Harpal Singh, said the 70-year-old enjoyed feeding the birds in the parking lot behind the convenience store where he often walked to from his place of worship nearby.
A member of the local Sikh community, a religion that emphasizes generosity, charity and humility, Singh could often be found at Sikh Gurdwara of Los Angeles for daily prayer and meditation.
“We believe in justice. We believe in forgiveness. We believe in equality,” Munmeeth Kaur with the Sikh Coalition told KTLA. “We want to make sure this doesn’t happen again. Given the location of where it happened, it’s one block from the Sikh Gurdwara. This is a place of worship where families, elderly, children come every day.”
Nearby business owners describe that area of North Hollywood as dangerous and plagued with vandalism and violence, problems many of them believe are connected to a sizable homeless population.
The 70-year-old remains in critical condition. The extent of his injuries were not immediately available.
Anyone with information about the incident is urged to contact LAPD. Those wishing to remain anonymous can call the L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-222-8477 or leave tips online at www.lacrimestoppers.org.
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