Attacker charged after randomly punching man who was pushing grandchild in stroller in Calabasas
A man was charged Friday with two apparently unprovoked attacks, including one allegedly caught on video involving a man who was pushing his grandchild in a stroller in Calabasas.
Criminal proceedings were quickly suspended after a doubt was declared Friday about the mental competency of Angel Sanchez Jr., 29, of Santa Barbara.
Sanchez is charged with one count each of battery with serious bodily injury, child abuse under circumstances likely to cause great bodily injury or death and corporal injury to a child, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said it received two separate calls of "unprovoked attacks on unsuspecting victims" around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.
One of the attacks was on a 60-year-old man who was pushing his grandchild in a stroller near Lost Springs Drive and Cottonwood Grove Trail, sheriff's officials said.
Security video from a nearby home shows the suspect walking toward the man and punching him in the head without any apparent provocation. The man fell to the ground and the stroller was knocked onto its side. The suspect then casually walked away, got into a van and drove away.
Sheriff's officials said a second apparently unprovoked attack occurred around the same time in the 26000 block of Agoura Road. The victim was described as a male juvenile.
"Although both victims of the assaults were of Asian descent, the motive for the attacks is currently under investigation," according to a sheriff's statement.
Sanchez was arrested Wednesday by the sheriff's department and has remained behind bars since then, jail records show.
