Police are searching for a man responsible for brutally beating a 76-year-old Navy veteran with dementia to death in Los Angeles.
Santos Castro, a father of seven, became involved in a struggle Aug. 18 over a bicycle with an unknown Hispanic man while standing on a street corner in front of a Carl’s Jr. restaurant in the 5600 block of Whittier Boulevard, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said, according to a local CBS affiliate.
“During the struggle, the suspect punched Mr. Castro several times in the head, knocking him to the sidewalk,” Lt. Steve Jauch said.
Castro sustained blunt force trauma to the head and was taken to Los Angeles County USC Medical Center, where he died just hours after the attack, a local CW affiliate reported.
The suspect left the scene on the bicycle, which did not belong to Castro, his granddaughter said. The suspect was captured on video inside the Carl’s Jr. restaurant prior to the assault, police said.
“This person is still out there. … If he did this to my grandpa, he could do it to anybody else,” a second granddaughter told the CW affiliate.
Castro is survived by his wife, Leandra Castro, three sisters, four brothers and seven children.
Police are asking anyone with information on the suspect to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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