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Thug beats ‘homeless’ man at train station, knocks teeth out: witness

Dramatic footage, which shows a thug knocking a man to the ground close to the edge of a train station platform, has been captured by an LA commuter.

The man, believed to be homeless, was set upon, about 1am on Tuesday, at a Hollywood subway station, local police said.

Witness Luke Cunningham captured the footage of what he described as a "senseless crime".

It shows an African-American man in a grey jacket exchanging words with two young men on a train platform.

The man, believed to be homeless, was set upon at a Hollywood subway, in LA. Image: KTLA
The man, believed to be homeless, was set upon at a Hollywood subway, in LA. Image: KTLA

Moments later, one of the young men kicks a black bag while the other removes his hoodie, then punches the African-American man in the head, knocking him to the ground.

It is not known if the bag belonged to the victim, but one of the young men can be seen walking off with it.

Mr Cunningham told local TV news station KTLA the victim was then kicked in the mouth while he lay on the platform.

"I followed the guy and he had no teeth in his mouth. He had his teeth knocked out and he was bleeding all over the place," he said.

Before paramedics arrived the two young men had reportedly left the scene with another man, and the victim was also gone, according to Mr Cunningham.

The two men in the video left the scene on a train before paramedics arrived. Blood can be seen on the ground. Image: KTLA
The two men in the video left the scene on a train before paramedics arrived. Blood can be seen on the ground. Image: KTLA

Investigators are reviewing the footage along with CCTV to find out what may have led to the attack, LA County Sheriff’s Deputy Ramon Montenegro said.

"You can see some verbal exchange, not sure if it was a verbal altercation," he said in a statement.

"But whatever it was it didn’t warrant an assault because it didn’t appear the victim was a threat to the other gentleman."

Top news stories - December 16