Man attacked on Honolulu Avenue

By Mary O’KEEFE

La Crescenta man was attacked while walking down Honolulu Avenue on Saturday night.

A husband and wife had dinner in Montrose then strolled down Honolulu Avenue, but the evening ended with the husband being transported to the hospital with a head injury.

The couple does not want to release their last name due to fear of retaliation.

“My husband and I had gone to dinner at Joselito’s. We were going to meet friends at Fat Dog,” Erin said.

About 10:30 p.m. the couple walked into Fat Dog in the 2200 block of Honolulu Avenue but did not find their friends.

They decided to meet the friends at another lounge down the street.

The couple walked eastbound on the north side of Honolulu Avenue when someone came up behind them, said Sgt. John Gilkerson of the Glendale Police Department.

“My husband said, ‘Erin there is someone running up behind us,’” she said. Before they could react, the suspect hit her husband Ken on the back of the head with his fist.

Ken fell, hitting a brick planter first then falling onto the curb. Erin turned to the attacker who she described as Asian, about 6’3” to 6’4” tall.

“I hit him a couple of times in the chest,” she said.

She yelled, “What are you doing?” adding, “The guy looked at me and I think he may have thought we were someone else. He didn’t try to take my purse or anything.”

A second suspect was standing near the couple. He did not participate in the attack. Both suspects ran across the street and down the small alley near Paradise Tanning.

Erin looked down at her husband who was lying in a pool of blood on the sidewalk. He attempted to stand but was disoriented. Two men from a nearby store came out and helped him to a seat.

“There was a lot of blood. I had it all over me because I was trying to get Ken to stay still,” she said.

When he saw the blood he was concerned about her safety not knowing he was the one who was hurt.

“A guy from Black Cow had witnessed the attack and had written down the description of both men,” Erin said.

The police arrived but the suspects were gone.

Ken was transported to the hospital and required many stitches in his face. Doctors ran a CT (computerized tomography) scan and found Ken had bleeding in the brain. He was transferred to Kaiser Hospital and was released on Monday. He is recovering at home but is still being monitored by his doctor.

Erin and Ken are long time residents of La Crescenta and dine along Honolulu Avenue on a regular basis. It surprised her that something this violent would occur in Montrose.

“It was pretty scary. You just have to be aware of your surroundings no matter where you are.”

Anyone with information on this incident is asked to contact Glendale robbery department at (818) 548-3987.