A man who had just withdrawn his life savings from a bank in Huntington Park was brutally beaten and robbed in a caught-on-video attack last week.
On July 30, Francisco Cornejo had taken out $200,000 from a Chase bank at Pacific Boulevard and Belgrave Avenue following the recent sale of his home, when an unknown assailant grabbed his satchel and ran away.
Cornejo fell to the ground as a result, video taken by a bystander showed.
The assailant’s face could not be seen in the video, but he was wearing a black hoodie.
“Within 30 seconds of just getting to his car, he was grabbed, beaten, robbed, and they took everything from him,” Cornejo’s attorney, Nathan Soleimani, told KTLA.
In Spanish, Cornejo said the called the robbery “traumatic.”
Cornejo was left with significant bruises on his side and arm, and his shoulder was dislocated. He also suffered severe trauma to the head, his daughter said in a GoFundMe page created to help with hospital expenses.
“He never expected such an atrocious attack,” the daughter said. “Bystanders attest that my dad was fighting with all of his will. My father was dragged by the criminal as they both fought for the bag.”
A family man, Cornejo had withdrawn the cash for the well-being of his loved ones, Soleimani said, adding that the family has no idea who would attack and rob his client.
His daughter said her unemployed parents needed the money to “get through” the coronavirus pandemic, to support her 94-year-old grandmother, pay for her sister’s graduate school tuition and send funds to loved ones in Mexico and El Salvador.
“This money was hard-earned and as a result of years and years of work,” she said.
Soleimani asked anyone who has information about the incident or the assailant to come forward.
The Huntington Park Police Department is investigating the incident and investigators were scouring the area for additional video of the attack.
Anyone with information about the incident can call police at 323- 584-6254, or Detective Cervantes at 323-826-6660.
