Disabled Man Slain in Holdup on Busy Street

A disabled Iranian immigrant was fatally stabbed in an apparent robbery as he walked along a busy North Hollywood street.

Mehrdad Ataipour, 23, who could not hear or speak and walked with a stoop, was attacked at 7:20 p.m. Thursday as he walked along Burbank Boulevard near Cleon Avenue in North Hollywood, Detective Mike Coffey said.

Information Sought

Ataipour, a computer operator at an Encino medical company, staggered into Burbank Boulevard, collapsed and died, Coffey said.

Two motorists who saw part of the attack stopped to help Ataipour and provided police with a sketchy description of the attacker who had fled on Cleon. But Coffey said detectives need more information from witnesses.

“There had to be a lot of people there who saw this,” Coffey said. “It is very active, almost bumper-to-bumper, at that time of night. But only two people stopped.”

Though the victim had a small amount of money when he died, police still believe the killing was an attempted robbery.

“Right now, we don’t have any other reason for it,” Coffey said.

Ataipour, who 10 years ago moved with his family to the United States so he could receive medical care, was following a route he took five days a week, Coffey said.

Just minutes before the attack, he had gotten off a bus at Vineland Avenue.

“He would always take the bus home from work and get off the bus there, and he never had a problem before,” Coffey said.

The detective said the victim was only three blocks from the home he shared with his parents and two sisters when he was confronted by a man, who witnesses described as about 20 years old, stabbed him in the chest.

Coffey said it appears Ataipour may have been attacked because his disability made him an easy target.

“He walked with a stoop, and he would appear to be a helpless person.”