Commerce : Fund-Raising Dinner Nets $25,000 for Riot Victim
A fund-raising dinner has generated more than $25,000 to help riot victim Fidel Lopez.
Workers at El Centro Substance Abuse Program have fielded calls and opened 450 pieces of mail for Lopez, whose plight was recently featured on ABC’s “20/20.” Members of the Eastside business community vowed to help Lopez pay for medical bills and get his house out of foreclosure.
Lopez, 48, was pulled from his truck at Florence and Normandie avenues last year and beaten unconscious. Videotapes used in the recent trial of Damian Monroe Williams showed a fallen Lopez with his pants pulled down and an assailant spray-painting his genitals. Williams, 20, was convicted of simple assault in the attack.
More than 100 attended a $25 per person fund-raising dinner Nov. 20 at Stevens Steakhouse, where mariachis and other musicians entertained. Proceeds went to Lopez, said organizer Jaime Pina, who with his wife, Sandy, has helped bring Lopez’s problems to the public’s attention.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
