A family is demanding justice after they say a homeless man attacked their parents in a McDonald’s drive-thru on L.A.'s east side, leaving the mother brain dead.
In March, 74-year-old Juan Rangel and his wife Maria, who is disabled and nearly blind, stopped at the fast food chain in Boyle Heights. Their daughter, Veronica Rangel, told KNX News’ Emily Valdez that her father rolled down the window to get his food when a homeless man approached him.
“So he began punching my father and he was able to put the car in park and exited the vehicle, and when he exited the vehicle, the man and [he] kind of scuffled and they fell to the floor,” she said.
Security video showed Maria getting out of the passenger’s side and going over to help her husband when she fell back and hit her head on the pavement. Rangel said the man pushed Maria’s legs which caused her to fall and hit her head.
“Because of that hit in the head, [she] had a heart attack,” Rangel said.
Rangel said Maria suffered another heart attack and is now brain dead.
The suspect, 35-year-old Charlie Green, was charged with a misdemeanor and released from jail. Rangel said she wants the attacker to be charged with involuntary manslaughter and elder abuse, but that the L.A. District Attorney’s Office has declined.
“When you have someone who just for no reason at all walks up to an innocent person and an elderly person and starts beating them up, how do you not think, ‘You know what? Maybe this guy shouldn't be out and about?’”
KNX News has reached out to the L.A. County DA’s office for further comment.
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