MONTEBELLO — Four men beat an auto body shop employee Tuesday as a fifth attacker with a baseball bat held the victim’s co-workers at bay, police said.
The incident was reported about 5 p.m. in the 700 block of South Maple Avenue, Montebello police Lt. Rich Meadows said.
Five men, described 19 to 27 years old, wearing dark gang attire, arrived at the victim’s workplace and began attacking him with their fists and feet, the lieutenant said.
One of the men brandished a baseball bat to prevent the victim’s co-workers from coming to his aid, Meadows said. He was a Latino man, about 27 years old, heavyset, wearing a black jersey and gray shorts.
The victim was not believed to be a gang member, though authorities suspected the attackers were.
The injured man was treated at a hospital and released later in the day, police said.