On any given day, video footage documenting violent incidents in the famed Venice Beach neighborhood of Los Angeles – involving the homeless who have erected tents there – are uploaded online.
A video posted online Friday appears to show a homeless man being attacked by an unidentified man and woman as he sits on the ground near the boardwalk – while other people walk past without intervening.
Concerns from neighborhood residents, business owners and law enforcement have grown in the months since tent encampments on the beach expanded and quality-of-life issues continue to plague the area.
Last week, a homeless man was found dead inside a tent along the beach boardwalk – known as Ocean Front Walk – and another man, also homeless, was arrested in connection with the slaying.
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The Los Angeles Police Department told Fox News it was unaware of the incident.
In another video, a man is seen being taken into custody by police officers on the beach before he is put onto a stretcher. The user who posted the footage said it occurred after a random attack near the boardwalk. The LAPD did not respond to a Fox News inquiry of the incident.
In a video posted to YouTube by TonyVeraNews, a man being interviewed claimed the attacker broke his fishing rod and punched him in the stomach.
“This guy was having a mental health episode and he basically assaulted me and battered me on the beach,” he said. “It was more upsetting than serious until he broke my fishing rod and I was like ‘Well, now he does have a weapon.’”
Assaults, robberies up sharply
Authorities did not have figures readily available Friday but as of the end of May, Venice experienced a 132% increase in assaults in which a homeless person was a suspect this year and a 126% increase in which the victim was homeless.
Robberies in which a homeless person was the victim increased by 1,100% and robbery incidents where a homeless person was a suspect saw a 160% increase. Overall, felony arrests in Venice increased by 81%, according to figures the LAPD provided to Fox News.
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Brutal attack
Two weeks before the sheriff’s request, a Venice business owner said a security guard at his shop was brutally attacked and stabbed with a bottle in the parking by a homeless person after being told he couldn’t drink alcohol on the premises.