Man Killed in Beating on Sun Valley Street
A band of at least 10 young men beat a North Hollywood man to death early Sunday morning as he walked down a quiet Sun Valley street, Los Angeles police said.
Detective Mike Coffey said the victim, Carlos A. Cardoza, 26, and a friend were walking home from a night out at a bar when a group of 10 to 15 youths confronted them on Strathern Street near Bellingham Avenue about 1:30 a.m.
Cardoza’s friend, whose name was not released, scaled a fence and ran away, but Cardoza was caught and beaten in the street, Coffey said. The attackers had left by the time Cardoza’s friend returned a short time later with a car. Coffey said the friend took Cardoza to Pacifica Hospital of the Valley in Sun Valley, where he died at 3:10 a.m.
A police gang unit was aiding the investigation because of the number of assailants, but it was not known whether the attack was gang related, Coffey said. Cardoza and his friend were Guatemalan nationals living in North Hollywood.
The attack occurred in a normally peaceful neighborhood, Coffey said. “It’s not a bad area. It’s primarily residential,” he added.
Robbery was the apparent motive for the attack, Coffey said, but it is not known if the men took anything from Cardoza.
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