California authorities say they are looking for a group of suspects they say beat a 92-year-old man with a brick and hurled racist insults at him.
According to KTTV, Rodolfo Rodriguez was walking near his home in the Willowbrook community of Los Angeles on Wednesday when the alleged attack occurred.
Reports indicate a woman approached him armed with a brick and hit him with it while engaging in racially charged comments. Police say a number of men joined in the altercation a short time later and inflicted multiple injuries on the elder victim.
Rodriguez reportedly sustained injuries including a broken cheekbone, two broken ribs and multiple contusions.
The alleged victim, who was visiting his family in the U.S. from his home in Mexico, spoke to local reporters through his grandson, Erik Mendoza, who served as a translator.
He said the altercation began when he and the female suspect’s child collided while they were walking near each other near the intersection of 118th Street and Central Avenue.
“And when he turned his back they just tossed him on the floor and she started hitting him, and then she grabbed a brick and started hitting him with the brick and then out of nowhere he saw three to four other guys just come rushing and just start stomping him,” Mendoza said.
According to Fox News, female witness said the group said “bad things” to the elderly man, including “Go back to your country, why are you here?”
Authorities are looking for the woman seen in a photo one witness took at the scene. Police are also looking for several black males between the ages of 20 and 30 as suspects in the beating.
The alleged victim’s family has established an online fundraiser to help with his medical expenses.
[Featured image: Rodolfo Rodriguez, GoFundMe]