Police arrest suspect in L.A. golf club attack that brutally injured a Sikh man, 70
A homeless was arrested as part of the violent assault of a 70-year-old man in North Hollywood, Los Angeles police chief Jim McDonnell said on Tuesday.
Richard Vitagliano is accused of attacking Harpal Singh on August 4 with a golf club. Singh was on his daily walk near Sikh Gurdwara from Los Angeles when he was beaten with the club.
After the attack, the LAPD officers were invited to be looking for the suspect, said McDonnell, when they received a photo of the man from surveillance cameras on Monday. Later in the evening, the alleged attacker was arrested in North Hollywood.
Vitagliano, a person known in the region, has a vast criminal record linked to accusations of drugs, assaults and weapons, said McDonnell.
The LAPD chief said that the victim was a member of the Sikh community, the attack was not a crime of hatred.
“(IT) was motivated by a dispute over property belonging to the victim,” said McDonnell. “The North Hollywood Command will conduct an additional patrol in the region following the incident and will continue to engage the community to discuss public security and respond to any other concern.”
The Sikh coalition, however, has published a declaration wondering if this determination can be made again, because the suspect was only arrested recently and that the victim is not able to be interviewed.
“I am grateful to hear that the police arrested a suspect for the horrible assault of my brother, but we must better understand this attack and why he is not considered a crime of hatred,” said Singh’s brother Gurdial Singh Randhawa, in a statement published by the coalition.
“Justice must be done, and our local Sikh community should know that the area around our Gurdwara – where we meet to worship, learn, connect, eat and serve others – is safe for everyone.”
The coalition also said: “Basically, we do not think that this incident can be definitively declared not a crime of hatred after such a short investigation. ”
Vitagliano stayed in Van Nuys prison on Tuesday after being reserved for the accusation of attack with a deadly weapon.
