LOS ANGELES – A man was caught on video punching two young women in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, and LAPD officials are investigating the incident as an assault with a deadly weapon.
Mike Watson, who shared the video on Facebook, wrote that the man was “causing a scene” about the price of hot dogs being sold outside a bar along the 600 block of Spring Street.
The man continued arguing with the vendor when one of the young women apparently said something to the man, standing up for the vendor.
Watson wrote that the man, who he described as weighing more than 200 pounds, threw one of the young women on the ground. Another young woman comes to the defense of the first girl and the man punches the second person in the face, the video shows. Watson wrote that the second young woman is his daughter. It is unclear how old the victims are. It is also unclear who shot the video.
“He socked them both in the face not once, but MULTIPLE times, some of which were not caught on film,” Watson wrote in the post.
As the video continues, the man is seen punching the first girl again and then hits the second girl with a “blind sided sucker punch,” Watson wrote.
The man is then seen running away.
Watson said no one in the crowd that had formed during the incident tried to stop the man, or help the two girls after they had been assaulted.
He said people hooped and hollered “as if they are watching an MMA fight!”
“For a crowd of men to sit back and not only watch, but film two girls get beat on by a 6’ 250 lb guy,” Watson wrote. “My family and I are disgusted to say the least.”
Watson added that one of the people watching was a bouncer at a bar near where the assault occurred.
“The people standing around laughed and cheered as if the sight of two small girls getting beat on,” he wrote, adding that both victims ended up in the emergency room.
He said he posted the video online for “everyone to share” so the man can be found. “Please help us find out who he is,” Watson pleaded in the post.
LAPD Officer Norma Eisenman told KTLA that a report has been filed on the case. She added that no further details were available because the investigation is ongoing.
In a tweet calling attention to the video, LAPD officials sought help finding the man who “brutally punched” the victims.
Anyone with information about the man is asked to call 213-996-1851.
Warning: This video contains graphic language and violence.
KTLA’s Alberto Mendez contributed to this story.