Woman Who Shouted Slurs, Attacked CA Grandfather Arrested

LOS ANGELES, CA — Police arrested a Los Angeles woman suspected of beating a 91-year-old man with a block of concrete while shouting apparently racist slurs at him because he inadvertently bumped into her daughter on the sidewalk on the Fourth of July.

However, authorities do not believe the attack was a hate crime.

Detectives Wednesday announced the arrest of Laquisha Jones, 30, of Los Angeles, at 10 p.m. Tuesday near 60th Street and Crenshaw Avenue in Los Angeles, according to a statement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

The attack happened at approximately 7:30 p.m. on July 4 in the area of East 118th and Robin streets, said Deputy Matt Luna of the Century Station. A woman confronted 91-year-old Rodolfo Rodriguez when he bumped into her little girl, according to Rodriguez's family. According to the family, Rodriguez was struck from behind, fell down and blacked out.

A neighbor driving by witnessed the assault. She saw the woman hitting him with a cinder block, and she took a photo of the suspect as she walked away.

“She was yelling at him, ‘Go back to your country,’ or ‘Go back to Mexico,’” witness Misbel Borjas told the Los Angeles Times. “It was racist.”

"When I tried to videotape her with my cell phone, she threw that same concrete block, tried to hit my car," said Misbel Borjas, who managed to snap a photo of the woman showing her still holding the piece of concrete.

Despite Borjas' account, sheriff's investigators said Wednesday that while they have not identified a motive for the attack, it was not believed to have been a hate crime.

"Through their investigation Century Station detectives have discovered that this is not a hate-related incident," according to the sheriff's department.

According to Borjas , a few men returned to continue the assault as she was dialing 911. Detectives are still investigating to determine if other suspects remain at large.

Rodriguez suffered bruises and a broken facial bone. Originally from Mexico, Rodriguez is a lawful permanent resident who takes nightly walks to the park to sit on a bench, his family told the Los Angeles Times. He doesn't speak English and couldn't understand why the attack was happening.

Deputies went to a hospital and took an assault report from the victim, Rodolfo Rodriguez. Following an extensive investigation, detectives obtained an arrest and search warrant for Jones, who was taken into custody without incident, according to Deputy Marvin Crowder.

Jones was booked for assault with a deadly weapon and is being held in lieu of $200,000 bail.

A weapon has not been located and a motive for the assault has not been determined, Crowder said .

Rodriguez was released from the hospital to recover from his injuries at home with his family.

In the meantime, loved ones are hoping to raise money to pay for the medical bills of Rodriguez. As of Monday, they passed their goal of $15,000 and raised more than $34,000.

To donate or for more information, go to gofundme.com.

City News Service and Patch reporter Hoa Quách, contributed to this report.

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