A West Hollywood gym owner had quite the scare when three masked suspects attacked him and tried to steal his Rolex watch.
KNX News’ Margaret Carrero spoke to the victim, Rocco DiStefano, about what happened Tuesday. He was walking his dog on West Sunset Boulevard near Sweetzer Avenue when the suspects – one with a gun – approached him.
“I take my Rolex off. I'm thinking about throwing it across the street into traffic or throwing it near the Standard,” he said. “But by the time I thought of that, I'm cornered in the corridor of where the elevator shafts are.”
DiStefano said he realized he wouldn’t be able to throw the watch at that point. He said one of the suspects started punching him from behind. The gunman was holding the weapon to DiStefano’s head, and the third suspect was kicking him in the head. He said he noticed one suspect run away, and that’s when he was able to push himself through the legs of the person hitting him on the back of the head.
“And push him and tackle him into the guy with the gun,” DiStefano recalled. “At that point, he fell on the ground, fell into the gunman. They both ran away into the black Cadillac that they were in.”
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His dog wasn’t hurt, but DiStefano suffered some bruises on his head. Nothing was stolen. DiStefano said this now makes him think about not wearing expensive things.
The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the incident.
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