Long Beach man charged with brutally beating woman at gas station
A Long Beach man was charged Tuesday with assault in the brutal beating of a woman at a gas station.
The man, Antoine Larue Rainey, was also charged in an earlier attack on another female motorist.
The May 30 attack at a gas station in the West Rancho Dominguez area appeared to be random, and the victim said she did not know the suspect, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said in a news release.
Security video posted by KTLA-TV Channel 5 showed a shirtless man emerging from an SUV, coming up behind a woman at the neighboring gas pump, punching her in the head and continuing to punch her after she fell to the ground.
He grabbed her hair and slammed her head against the vehicle and the ground several times, the Sheriff's Department said.
"It was a very prolonged and vicious attack," said Det. Keegan McInnis. "I think it went on for about 45 seconds."
The man did not take anything from the victim, and he made some comments about her speaking Spanish, McInnis said.
The victim sustained severe injuries to her head and face and was transported to a local hospital, the Sheriff's Department said.
"These types of unprovoked attacks are especially egregious and will not be tolerated," Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón said in a written statement.
The other attack occurred the previous day at Rosecrans Avenue and Avalon Boulevard in Willowbrook. Prosecutors allege that Rainey abruptly stopped his car, opened the door of the car behind him and punched the driver several times.
Rainey, 37, was arrested on June 4. A family member who saw the news story about the gas station attack contacted the Long Beach Police Department and gave them Rainey's location, the Sheriff's Department said.
The victim of the first attack — a 63-year-old Black woman — also contacted McInnis saying she saw the news coverage of the gas station attack and immediately recognized Rainey.
Rainey was charged Tuesday with two felony counts of assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury.
He was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday, but the hearing was postponed to July 6 because of questions about Rainey's mental competency, said a spokesperson from the district attorney's office.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
