Police are investigating a horrible group robbery attack against a street vendor that was caught by a surveillance camera, showing how Pedro Daniel Reyes was assaulted and chased before he fell in the street surrounded by his attackers.
A GoFundMe page has raised more than $143,000 for Reyes after he was left with severe injuries, including a broken jaw.
The vendor was getting ready to sell peanuts on Sunday when two cars pulled up near him on East 31st Street near San Pedro Street. The robbers demanded Reyes and other vendors give them money, according to the GoFundMe page set up by a man identified as Reyes’s stepson. Reyes gave the men money, the page says, but was still beaten.
The attack took place shortly after 5 am in a section of Historic South-Central, east of the 110 freeway and south of the 10. In the footage, two vehicles drive up to a row of parked vehicles where vendors are gathered. A group of people emerge from the cars, pulled over hoodies, and appear to attack the people on the sidewalk.
Reyes is seen trying to run away from the group before he is punched and chased. After falling to the street, the vendor is motionless as the attackers empty his pockets.
“For him, selling peanuts is his rest day just to make ends meet,” a relative told KTLA. “He depends on his job and his able body to be able to work, and now he’s not going to be able to work.”
LAPD Lt. David Krumer told Fox 5 the suspects are believed to be five to six African-American men and one African-American woman. City Councilmember Curren Price Jr. proposed and a motion passed by the City Council to offer a $25,000 reward for any information leading to arrests in the case.
Reyes, who is in his 50s, is from the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. He does roofing Monday through Saturday and sells fruit and peanuts on Sundays. Reyes has no health insurance, the GoFundMe account states. The vendor underwent surgery on Monday.
“The investigation is ongoing and there is no further information at this time,” LAPD officer Drake Madison told LA Taco on Wednesday.
* Daniel Hernandez contributed to this report.
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