The Los Angeles Police Department is asking for the public's help in identifying a man seen in a video allegedly punching two young women outside a hot dog stand Saturday night.
The 15-second video was posted by Mike Watson to his Facebook page Sunday and quickly went viral online. Watson wrote in the post that the man was "causing a scene" about the price of hot dogs at the stand outside a bar in downtown L.A. When one of the young women stuck up for the vendor, the bearded man threw her to the ground. A second young woman, who Watson said is his daughter, can be seen coming to the first girl's defense, and the man punches her in the face.
"He socked them both in the face not once, but MULTIPLE times, some of which were not caught on film," Watson wrote in the post.
The video shows the man turning back to hit the first girl again and then hits the second girl with what Watson described in his post as a "blind sided sucker punch."
The man is then filmed running away from the crowd.
It's unclear who shot the video or how old the victims are.
Watson said he was outraged that no one in the crowd helped either one of the young ladies or try to stop the man adding that people were whooping and screaming as if they were "watching an MMA fight!"
"For a crowd of men to sit back and not only watch, but film two girls get beat on by a 6’ 250 lb guy," Watson wrote. "My family and I are disgusted to say the least."
Both of the young women went to the hospital emergency room where they were treated for their injuries.
The LAPD tweeted the video asking for the public's help in identifying the man who "brutally punched" the two victims.
If you have any info contact Detective Gonzalez 213-996-1851 (after hours contact 213-486-6606).