Diner brutally attacks busboy who stood up for pregnant waitress

Los Angeles police are asking for help in identifying a man who was caught on camera punching a waiter who asked him to stop verbally abusing a pregnant waitress.

May 23, 2024, 11:43 p.m. PDT

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA — According to Los Angeles police, a customer was unhappy with the service of a pregnant waitress at a downtown Los Angeles restaurant and attacked an employee who stood up for the waitress.

Authorities are now asking for help in identifying the man. The Los Angeles Police Department has released surveillance footage of the suspect wanted in connection with the attack on Monday afternoon.

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It happened just after 1 p.m. at the Wokcano restaurant in the 800 block of West 7th Street. The suspect was upset because he felt he had to wait too long for his food, police said.

“The suspect was harassing a pregnant employee, at which point a male employee intervened and asked the suspect to stop harassing the employee,” LAPD officials said in a written statement. “The suspect confronted and assaulted the male employee, striking the male employee multiple times and causing minor injuries.”

The attack was captured on video, which shows the customer repeatedly hitting the employee on the head.

Wokcano busboy Kevin Oxlaj told ABC7 Eyewitness News he intervened to stop the man from harassing his co-worker.

“We told him we apologize,” Oxlaj said. “We told him we were sorry it took so long.”
“I told him, ‘Please don’t shout at my colleague. She’s pregnant. She can’t handle all this stress, please show some respect.'”

Then the attack happened. A customer pulled the attacker away from Oxlaj, and the man eventually left. Since then, however, he has returned several times to look for Oxlaj, his mother Isabel Hernández told ABC7. Now Oxlaj said he is afraid to return to the area around his work.

The suspect is described as being between 25 and 30 years old, with black hair, brown eyes and a mustache. He is 1.80 m tall and weighs approximately 80 to 90 kg.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Ramirez, Central Area Crime Against Persons, at 213-996-1248.