LOS ANGELES (KTLA/CNN) - Security guard Sergio Cedillo has worked at a strip mall at Vermont and Venice for several years but nothing prepared him for the violence he encountered Thursday night.
“It was really bad. She was losing a lot of blood,” Cedillo recalled.
A woman was making change inside Pico-Union Laundromat just after 6:30 p.m. Security cameras recorded a man carrying a skateboard as he entered the facility.
With her back to him, she didn’t see what was coming.
“He was carrying a knife,” Cedillo said.
The suspect grabbed the woman’s purse. A brief struggle ensued. Then, with his right hand, he slashed her neck with the sharp object.
She fell to the ground as the suspect ran from the building.
The attacker is described as a Hispanic male who appears to be between 25 and 35 years old, 5-5 and 175 pounds with a thick dark goatee. The video shows him wearing a gray baseball cap, dark clothes and black shoes with white soles.
Cedillo was across the parking lot when he heard people screaming. He ran to help and discovered the gruesome scene.
“There was a lot of blood on the floor. She was in really bad condition. I felt helpless that I couldn’t help her,” he said.
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