Long Beach Street Vendor Robbed, Beaten By Armed Men
LONG BEACH (CBSLA) – Authorities are looking for two armed men who robbed and assaulted a street vendor Monday afternoon in Long Beach, an attack which was caught on security video.
The robbery occurred at 4:18 p.m. in the 1400 block of Locust Avenue. Security video from a nearby apartment showed the two suspects hitting and punching 50-year-old Bililfo Fernandez in the middle of the street. One of the suspects can also be seen producing what looks to be a handgun and pointing it at pedestrians on the sidewalk while the other continues to beat Fernandez.
According to Long Beach police, officers arrived on scene to find him laying on the ground with a small laceration to his upper body. His daughter, Maribel Fernandez, told CBSLA Tuesday that her father needed hospitalization for major head injuries.
Fernandez -- a father of four -- has been selling corn in the neighborhood for several decades, Maribel said.
"He's a really good man, he loves his customers," she told CBSLA. "Customers will call him on his cell phone. 'What time are you gonna go to work because we want some corn?' And they'll just be waiting for him."
The suspects pistol-whipped Fernandez and stole cash and personal property, police said. Unable to work, he has no health insurance and growing hospital bills.
The suspects were only described as two black men in their 20s. They remain at large.
"We want to know who are they, to get justice for my dad," Maribel said.
Detectives are investigating. A GoFundMe page has been set up to help Fernandez with medical bills and another one was set up by his daughter.