Gas station customer attacked with tire iron in Seal Beach fights back

Police were asking for the public’s help Tuesday in finding a man who randomly attacked a customer at a gas station in Seal Beach with a tire iron, leaving the victim with a bloody gash to his head.

Investigators have not identified the attacker or concluded why he went after the customer but think it may have been an attempted carjacking or robbery that went wrong, and the customer fought back, Sgt. Philip Gonshak said.

The attack occurred after 10 p.m. Sunday at a Mobil gas station on Seal Beach Boulevard near shopping centers and an apartment complex.

In a security camera video of the incident, a 26-year-old man from Cypress is seen filling up his truck when a man carrying a tire iron runs into the camera frame and smacks the customer in the head with it.

The customer fought back, and the attacker ran off. The customer called 911 to report the attack and said he was bleeding from the head, according to KTLA.

The attacker was described as a 5-foot-11, cleanshaven Latino with a thin build and dark complexion, wearing black tennis shoes with white knee-high socks, long khaki shorts, a blank tank top and a black-on-white baseball cap. Anyone with information is asked to call Seal Beach police Det. Mariana Martinez at (562) 799-4100.

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