An elderly Los Angeles liquor store worker has died after a group of teenagers robbed his store and struck him over the head with a scooter, according to police.
LAPD Public Information Officer Jeff Lee told Fox News Digital that the 69-year-old victim, a Filipino male, had been trying to stop the four teenage suspects — two males and two females described as Hispanic — from robbing his store, Tony’s Market on East Avenue 40, of various items just before 7 p.m. PT.
One of the four suspects then hit the victim over the head with a scooter and left him bleeding on the ground, as seen in a graphic video of the incident posted to Instagram by user downtown_bigsby.
Bystanders rushed to help the victim identified on a GoFundMe page as Steven Reyes, FOX 11 Los Angeles first reported. Los Angeles authorities transported the victim to a nearby hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
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The GoFundMe titled “Steven Reyes” states that Reyes was an immigrant from the Philippines, who, like many other immigrants, “came to the US in search for a better life.” He met his wife in Los Angeles and had two daughters, according to the description.
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“Steven had a loving heart and cared for everyone and always made sure that his family was safe. His work ethics were incredible [sic] and he worked so hard to be able to care and support his mother. Steven worked at a liquor store, where he was brutally attacked with a scooter by … juveniles who were attempting to steal a case of beer,” the GoFundMe description says.
Reyes’ niece described her uncle as a “a crazy beautiful man that loved his family deeply and protected everything he cared for” in a Friday Facebook post.
The two male suspects are believed to be between the ages of 15 and 18, and the female suspects are believed to be 15 years old, Lee said.
Witnesses said the suspects fled the scene on foot with a case of beer, eastbound on Figueroa Street, according to FOX 11.
