A seriously injured 53-year-old West Hollywood hairstylist was recovering at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Tuesday as West Hollywood sheriff’s detectives and Albert Vasquez’s family tried to figure out what happened. This was about two weeks later.
“He’s not a violent man at all. We’re all in shock,” said Vazquez’s sister, Gloria Jimenez.
Jimenez said her brother stopped by several bars in West Hollywood’s Rainbow District on April 5, but ended up bleeding near Heart, a gay nightclub on Santa Monica Boulevard, around 11 p.m. He was found unconscious.
Jimenez said neither she nor her family knew about the incident until a friend called her brother a few days later. The nurse who answered her call told her that hospital staff needed to speak to her family.
Jimenez said Vazquez is barely able to communicate at this point and all he can say so far is that he was attacked.
“The scariest part was not knowing what had happened,” said her sister. “How did he come up with this?”
After he arrived at the hospital, doctors removed part of his scalp.
“His scalp was actually fractured in two places. [That] That’s what we’re being told,” Jimenez said.
The Sheriff’s Office said investigators are trying to determine what happened and whether a crime was committed.
“We’re asking anyone who knows anything to come forward and help,” Jimenez said. “We know someone saw something.”
The nightclub, which has cameras installed around its premises, posted on Instagram on Monday: “We have provided the authorities with unrestricted access to CCTV footage.”
Investigators said they asked the nightclub not to release the footage so as not to jeopardize the investigation.
Family and friends sit by Vasquez’s bedside and watch him heal, waiting for answers.
Thankfully, they think he will make a full recovery.
“He’s very resilient and very positive. He’s got a lot of positive support, so we expect him to recover,” Jimenez said.
If anyone has information that could assist the investigation, please contact the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Office.