Photo: Michael Burrell / iStock / Getty Images
WEST HOLLYWOOD (CNS) - A 28-year-old man was behind bars Tuesday in connection with the severe beating of a longtime valet at the famed Barney's Beanery restaurant in West Hollywood in a seemingly unprovoked attack.
Dorian Michael Gray, 28, was arrested Friday and was being held without bail, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and jail records. Sheriff's officials said he was booked on suspicion of attempted murder, battery and assault with a deadly weapon. The investigation was being presented to the District Attorney's Office for consideration of criminal charges.
The suspect is accused of brutally attacking Efrain "Frankie" Zarazua around 10:30 p.m. Sept. 14 outside the restaurant at 8447 Santa Monica Blvd. Surveillance video of the attack shows the shirtless assailant knocking Zarazua to the ground then stomping and repeatedly kicking him in the head.
"The victim was punched and he was knocked unconscious when he hit the ground, hit his head on the ground," sheriff's Detective Brandon Zeff told reporters Tuesday morning. "And then the suspect kicked the victim approximately seven times in the upper torso and in the head. Witnesses described him as also stomping on the victim's head during that incident."
Sheriff's officials said they believe the same suspect also may have carried out at least four other assaults in the same general area within a 20- minute span, but injuries inflicted in those attacks were not as severe.
According to an Instagram post by Barney's Beanery after the attack, Zarazua has worked for the eatery for more than 30 years.
"He is kind, funny and welcoming to everyone he encounters," according to the restaurant.
Zarazua was hospitalized in intensive care. His wife, Irma, wrote on a GoFundMe page in late September that he had been moved out of intensive care and was "on his way to recovery."
"Given the circumstances of the head injuries he received after the assault, he has a long way of therapy and rehab," she wrote. "To add on, he also has a broken cheekbone which will heal on its own, but his brain was swelled up and is slowly healing."
As of Monday evening, the GoFundMe page had raised more than $57,000.
Zarazua's son, Chris, told reporters after the assault that his father could have died in the brutal attack. He said another co-worker at the restaurant had been attacked by the suspect at a nearby bus stop, and another person was attacked nearby.
"I think my dad ... he was trying to see what the commotion was about, and unfortunately he ran across ... the assailant," he said.
Anyone with information was asked to contact Zeff at 310-358-4033 or bgzeff@lasd.org. Anonymous tips can be made through CrimeStoppers at 800-222- TIPS (8477).