Man charged with punching women in LA hot dog fight is being ‘crucified,’ he says
A Southern California man is charged with battery after video emerged last month showing him punching two women during a fight at a downtown Los Angeles hot dog stand, prosecutors said.
Arka Sangbaran Oroojian, the 30-year-old Sylmar man charged in the fight, could face up to $10,000 in fines and a jail sentence as long as 30 months if he’s convicted on the five counts, according to a news release Wednesday from the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office.
“We will not tolerate a brutal assault on the streets of DTLA, or any neighborhood,” Mike Feuer, the city attorney, said in a statement announcing the charges.
The video of the assault shows Oroojian “repeatedly punching two women in the face” on Jan. 26, prosecutors’ statement said. After video of the attack went viral, Oroojian turned himself in to police, according to the city attorney.
He was released on $90,000 bail, KTLA reports.
Oroojian said he was just “defending” himself during the brawl and that “social media crucified me … they’re crucifying me,” FOX 11 reports. Oroojian also told the TV station the video captured only part of the altercation.
“The woman that was cussing me out spits on me. Her friend then attacks me,” Oroojian said in an interview with FOX 11. “I fall down on the ground and they both start kicking me … I mean, if you look at the video it shows them coming towards me and I was just defending myself and the last thing I wanna do is fight.”
The TV station described Oroojian as an “ultrasound technician and aspiring rap artist.”
Prosecutors saw the situation differently — as did the women, one of whom said she was upset that bystanders watched the assault and “nobody did anything,” NBC reported last month.
The fight began as a verbal spat between Oroojian and a vendor at a hot dog stand on Spring and 6th Streets, and the two women saw the argument and tried to defend the vendor, according to prosecutors.
Soon the disagreement grew violent, as “Oroojian allegedly punched the first female victim in the face,” the city attorney said. Next, a second woman tripped Oroojian, which made him fall to the ground — and when Oroojian got back up, he “punched each victim in the face, causing both to fall to the ground,” prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said that, as the women tried to get back up on their feet, the man punched them in the face again and then ran off.
Both women “were taken to a nearby hospital and diagnosed with injuries including a concussion, broken finger and facial bruising,” according to Feuer’s office.
“I definitely feel bad,” Oroojian said, according to FOX 11. “I wish they didn’t spit on me or attack me.”
Chris Reyes, Oroojian’s lawyer, said it was an “isolated incident” and that his client has “no priors,” NBC reports.
Oroojian is next due in court on March 15, according to the city attorney.
This story was originally published February 27, 2019 at 5:58 PM with the headline "Man charged with punching women in LA hot dog fight is being ‘crucified,’ he says."
