Los Angeles men refusing to wear masks at Target allegedly break employee’s arm

The two suspects were arrested on felony battery charges with their bail each set at $50,000.

May 13, 2020

Earlier this month two men in Los Angeles were arrested for assaulting a Target security guard after they were asked to leave the store for refusing to wear face masks. Now it appears they may have broken the employee’s arm during the scuffle.

According to a press release Monday, on May 1st, two men, later identified as Phillip Hamilton, 31, and Paul Hamilton, 29 — entered a Target in the Van Nuys area shortly after 10 a.m. local time. They were immediately approached for failing to follow the statewide rule to wear a mask in retail stores.

As the two men were being escorted out of the building one of the suspects “without provocation, turned and punched a store employee, causing him and the suspect to fall to the floor,” the release read.

Police have confirmed the guard broke his arm when hitting the ground and there is surveillance video from the store which shows the suspects being escorted out of the store just moments before unleashing their attack.

The footage shows both the guard and his attacker hitting the ground as another member of the security team rushed to help, only to also be dragged down to the floor. Once the altercation escalated into a full out brawl, two more people rushed over to attempt to break up the fight.

The Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics were ultimately called to the scene to take the injured guard to a local hospital. According to CNN, later that same day the two suspects were arrested on felony battery charges with their bail each set at $50,000. Both men have since made bail and been released.