A driver in downtown Los Angeles said he is recovering from his injuries after he was jumped by a group of bicycle-riding teenagers in an attack that was partially caught on video.
Video of the Aug. 2 attack was shared with KTLA and shows a group of people on bicycles riding around cars downtown and also stomping on one vehicle’s windshield.
Shailoobek Bazarbai Uulu, 29, said he was attacked while stopped at a red light at the intersection of Olympic Boulevard and Hope Street after he’d attempted to pass the teenagers in his car and one of them threw a water bottle in response.
“I was a little bit confused. I passed the intersection, pulled over, and got out of the car to figure out what happened,” he said in a GoFundMe post seeking help to cover his medical expenses.
When he got out of the car, Uulu said he was surrounded. He said he ran away but a small group gave chase while others ransacked and vandalized his vehicle. When he went back to his car to try and stop them, he was also attacked, Uulu told KTLA.
He says he fell to the ground and was pummeled with kicks and punches.
“I never thought that teens can be so cruel, and I didn’t expect that from them,” Uulu told The Times. “That’s why I got out from the car. I didn’t know like that it’s very dangerous to get out from the car.”
“Suddenly, someone pulled me out and just hugged me and took me aside, and it was a girl,” he added. “She just literally saved my life because no one helped me at that time.”
He said he didn’t realize it at the time, but he was badly cut and bruised and had a broken leg. His GoFundMe will help cover the cost of surgery and his stolen possessions, which include his money, wallet, phones and other effects.
Uulu, a refugee originally from Kyrgyzstan, grew up in Russia from the age of 5 and arrived in California over a year ago seeking asylum. The teenagers who attacked him and ransacked his car stole paperwork he needs for his asylum case, he said.
Prior to the attack, Uulu worked as an Instacart delivery driver. But now that his leg is broken and his car is in need of repairs, he’s out of work. His mother is in Kyrgyzstan and his siblings are in Russia.
“I’m just alone here,” he said.
Bystander Shiv Patel recorded the incident, and repeatedly chastised the teenagers and got in touch with Uulu to give him footage of the encounter. One person on a motorcycle claimed that Uulu almost hit one of the teenagers with his car. In the video, Uulu can be seen limping barefoot as he asks for someone to call the police.
Though it’s unclear how many people were involved in the attack, Los Angeles police confirmed they did receive reports of a group fight that day about 6:30 p.m., said Officer Drake Madison. The number of people involved in the fight repeatedly changed over the multiple calls the LAPD received, Madison said, but the final estimate was between 20 to 30 teenagers who were last seen heading toward L.A. Live, according to police.
While an officer from the LAPD met with Uulu at the hospital, he said that he has not received any follow-up calls about the case.
“I saw their fingerprints on my window,” he said about those who attacked his car.
The detectives working on Uulu’s case could not be immediately reached for a status update Monday.
