A 79-year-old Vietnam veteran is recovering in the hospital after he was attacked by a naked man in Studio City.
George Karkoc told KNX News’ Emily Valdez it was around 7 a.m. Friday, when he went outside and saw a naked man run into his neighbor's home at his duplex on Tujunga Ave.
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“‘Cause I knew I wouldn't be able to handle them physically if I had or if something came to that,” he said.
Karkoc said he and his neighbor tried to tell the man to leave, but the man pounced on Karkoc.
“He just had his arms around my shoulders and pinned my arms,” he said. “His legs were intertwined with mine, and I just collapsed. I couldn't carry the weight. As I was collapsing, of course, I broke both legs. I broke the tibia fibula in my right leg and femur and my hip, just shattered…and I felt at that point in time that it was the end of the story. So, I had to do what I had to do.”
Karkoc then shot the man three times, killing him. He said during the attack, his combat experience which includes serving in the 173rd Airborne Brigade.
“It kind of trained my mind to react quickly and do what has to be done,” he said.
Karkoc is in the hospital and has a long road to recovery ahead of him. On Tuesday, officers from the LAPD’s North Hollywood station, the same ones who responded to the scene on Friday, and deputies from the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department visited him in the hospital.
A GoFundMe is being raised for Karkoc. You can view it here.
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