Man caught on camera sucker punching Navy vet in Koreatown charged in unprovoked attack

Navy veteran says he was sucker punched in Koreatown

A Navy veteran says he was violently sucker punched in an unprovoked attack while waiting for the bus in Koreatown – and it was all caught on camera. FOX 11's Travis Rice reports.

LOS ANGELES - A 45-year-old man suspected of sucker punching a Navy veteran at a Koreatown bus stop in what police called an unprovoked attack was charged Tuesday with a felony count of battery with serious bodily injury.

Tony Earl King was arrested at about 10 a.m. Friday at a bus stop at Wilshire Boulevard and Vermont Avenue after authorities received a tip from a caller who recognized King from security video captured of the crime, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

The assault occurred at about 1:45 p.m. on June 21 at the same bus stop where King was arrested, according to LAPD Officer Drake Madison said.

"It was unprovoked," authorities said.

The suspect in the video was sitting on a bus bench and the victim was standing about six feet away from him with his back turned when the suspect got up, walked toward the victim and slugged him with tremendous force, causing him to fall to the ground.

The injured man was knocked unconscious, and was treated at a hospital and released, Madison said.

The victim, who was identified only as "Leo" at his request, said he was minding his own business, playing a game on his phone when he was approached by the unidentified suspect and struck in the face.

"He was sitting on the bench and I was standing up enjoying my game," Leo said. "I guess he just didn't like what I was doing. I had no music on, it was quiet, I was minding my own business, and he just came up and struck me violently."

Video shows him on the ground afterward, not moving. Another person is seen approaching and apparently trying to defuse the situation by engaging with the suspect, taking his attention away from Leo.

Leo, a U.S. Navy veteran, said he suffered a contusion on the back of his head from hitting the ground and a cut on his nose.

King was arrested on suspicion of felony battery and booked into the LAPD Olympic Community Police Station jail. He was being held on $50,000 bail.

The charges include allegations that King was engaged in violent conduct in committing the alleged offense that indicates a serious danger to society and that he has served a prior term in prison or county jail.