A California woman entered a no-contest plea on Dec. 27, months after she was arrested for hitting an elderly man with a brick, said officials in a news release.
Laquisha Jones, 30, entered the no-contest plea to one count of elder abuse—infliction of injury, following the alleged attack in July. The 92-year-old victim, Rodolfo Rodriguez, was “severely injur[ed],” said the Los Angeles County
District Attorney’s Office.
“Jones also admitted allegations of using a deadly and dangerous weapon, a brick, during the commission of the crime and that she inflicted great bodily injury upon the victim,” said the DA’s office. The defendant also admitted that she was convicted in 2017 of making criminal threats.
Jones is slated to appear in Los Angeles County Superior Court in Compton in February 2019. If convicted, she could be sentenced to 15 years in prison.
The office alleged that Jones on July 4 attacked the elderly man with a brick “without provocation.” After the assault, “the victim was taken to the hospital for medical treatment and Jones fled the scene,” said the DA’s office.
“After conducting further investigation, law enforcement identified Jones as the assailant and arrested her on July 10,” prosecutors said.
Video footage of the incident showed Rodriguez with a bloodied face, sitting on the ground.
‘Go Back to Your Country’
A witness, Misbel Borjas, claimed that someone told Rodriguez that he should “go back to your country,”
Fox News reported. The case wasn’t prosecuted as a hate crime.
Eyewitnesses had said that Jones passed the elderly victim as he was walking down the street. They claimed that she started beating him with a piece of concrete,
ABC7 reported.
Investigators initially thought Rodriguez may have bumped into a young girl who was with Jones before the assault happened,
KTLA reported. Rodriguez, however, denied that it happened.
“The woman pushed him and dropped him. She took the block of concrete and hit him in his head many times,” a witness told the ABC affiliate. The person added that several men jumped in and began attacking him. “I can’t walk anymore,” Rodriguez
told CNN in an interview at the time. “I’m in so much pain.”
He’s a permanent resident of the United States who lives in Michoacan, Mexico. He visits California twice a year, according to reports.
Erik Mendoza, the grandson of the victim, meanwhile, wrote in a
GoFundMe page that an “African-American lady and five other guys” assaulted his grandfather. “He is doing really bad, has a lot of bruises on his face and a broken cheekbone,” he said. “Who would do this to anybody?” Mendoza asked. “A 92-year-old senior citizen — what can he do to anybody? There’s no harm that he meant.”
“I just passed her and she pushed me and she hit me until she was done.” Rodriguez also said.
Officials said they obtained a search warrant before her arrest.
“Detectives began an extensive investigation into the assault. They obtained an arrest and search warrant for a suspect. Due to working every angle and lead in the case, it ultimately resulted in the arrest of Laquisha Jones without incident,” the department
said on July 11.
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