KCAL9 Talks Exclusively To Family Of Seriously Injured Gas Station Attendant
VAN NUYS (CBS) — Last Friday evening, just before 11 p.m., Jorge Grimaldi was on the job as a clerk at an Arco station in Van Nuys.
Tonight, he's in a coma at a hospital.
After a verbal altercation with a customer, Grimaldi stood in front of the man's car in an effort to keep him from leaving the gas station.
Security video shows what happened next. Grimaldi grabbed on to the hood of the man's red Camry and held on for dear life for the next half mile. After falling off the hood, Grimaldi hit his head and suffered a serious head injury.
Police today said they were stepping up the search for the suspect. He was described as a 250-pound black man in his 30s or 40s. He has salt-and-pepper hair and the Camry reportedly has a partial license of 6SNL.
Wednesday evening, KCAL9 reporter Rita Garcia spoke exclusively with Grimaldi's son and daughter.
They were too afraid to show their faces, but they didn't stop from lashing out at the man who plowed his car into their father.
They believe the man tried to steal something from the station and their father stood in front of his car to keep him from fleeing.
"My dad is a great guy. He didn't deserve this. He's not a bad person," his 15-year-old daughter says.
His 22-year-old son was circumspect. "I'm the only man in the house, so right now, I need to be working as hard as he was."
