Woman Charged In Connection To July 4th Brick Attack On 92-Year-Old Man

One week after numerous assailants allegedly assaulted a 92-year-old man with a brick, police have charged a suspect in connection to the incident.

Laquisha Jones, 30, was charged with attempted murder and elder abuse, infliction of injury, and was arraigned in Superior Court on Thursday, according to CBS Los Angeles. Jones is alleged to have used a deadly and dangerous weapon during the commission of the crime and committed great bodily injury to Rodriguez, according to the felony complaint obtained by CBS. She entered a not guilty plea, and proescutors have requested bail be set at $1.125 million, CBS reports. 

Rodolfo Rodriquez was out for a walk in his Los Angeles neighborhood on July 4 when he was allegedly attacked by a woman wielding a brick, who was then joined by four men who aided her in the attack. The altercation occurred after Rodriguez accidentally bumped into a little girl believed to be the woman’s daughter.

One witness told KCAL 9, a Los Angeles-based CBS station, that the woman shouted at Rodriguez to “go back” to his country during the attack. Rodriguez is a U.S. resident from Mexico, according to NBC Los Angeles. He reportedly suffered broken ribs, a broken cheekbone, and bruises all over his body, but because the assailants fled before the police arrived, no arrests had been made initially.

Jones was arrested in connection the incident on Tuesday night, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said in a Facebook statement. She was taken into custody without incident, and booked for assault with a deadly weapon, the release continued. 

Jones was on probation at the time of the attack, after having been previously convicted of making criminal threats in 2017, CBS reports. She is reportedly due back in court on July 26.

A motive for the assault is currently unknown, according to the sheriff's department’s initial release. In a second Facebook statement, the department stated that the assault against Rodriguez is not a “hate-related incident,” according to investigators.

The investigation is ongoing, and detectives are seeking additional information about other possible suspects that may have been involved in the incident, as well as any other witnesses that may have seen the assault, the second release continued.

Rodriguez’s family launched a GoFundMe campaign to help cover his medical bills and has raised more than $300,000 in just five days. Oxygen.com has not verified the authenticity of the GoFundMe page. 

[Photo: GoFundMe Campaign/Erik Mendoza]