Downtown LA bar owner hitting homeless man caught on video
(FOX 11) - An ugly scene unfolded Tuesday night outside a popular downtown LA bar, The Redwood.
WARNING GRAPHIC VIDEO:
In the video, the bar owner is seen hitting and spouting obscenities at a homeless man. It was taken by 31 year-old Dylan Doren who happened to be passing by.
'It was crazy to watch and i was like in shock.', said Doren, who said he immediately recognized the homeless man as Frank Chiari aregular on the streets for 20 years who some describe as kind while others say he's troubled.
'The guy was punching him, hitting him in the head In the face, in the temple. Hhe knocked him down and he got back up and he continued.' Doren said.
The bar owner was later identified as Christian Frizell. We tried to contact him at redwood but he wasn't there.
Employees referred us to a statement Frizell released earlier this week in which he said he was embarrassed and saddened by the video but said Frank has been harassing his clients for years.
Frizzell says that night, he asked frank to leave and that's when he became aggressive hitting and spitting on frizell. Frizzell went on to say., 'I defended myself and restrained him in an effort to prevent any escalation of a tense situation. It's never fun to have to forcefully remove someone from your business.'
Doren says while he was waiting for police to arrive after the altercation, Frizzell began calling him names and questioning his race.
'I responded by saying why are you asking me what my race is like what does it matter and he answered I know what race I am. I am an American.' said Doren.
In his statement Frizzell also said :
'I am not a bigot or a racist. I'm a small business owner who is a father of four and the allegations and alleged statements in the video are false accusations.'
Frizzell also said, 'the police responded to the scene and when they saw the physical evidence of the struggle asked if i wanted the suspect arrested. I declined.'
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