The Los Angeles police department has been looking for a man who beat two women at a hot dog stand and then ran off — all captured on a videotape later distributed by the LAPD. He turns out to be Arka Sangbarani Oroojian who turned himself in to the LAPD.
It took only a day and then the police announced that Arka Sangbarani Oroojian turned himself in and was booked for assault with a deadly weapon, his bail set at $90,000. It is not clear what the deadly weapon was since he had nothing apparent in this hands.
The two women watched as the man got into a shouting match over a $6 hotdog. Even after a second vendor offered to give him the hotdog for free, he reportedly continued to argue. One of the victims reportedly told him to leave and received a brutal hit from the man, according to the Los Angeles Times. The other woman then stepped forward and was also punched.
According to the Los Angeles Times, both women suffered concussions and were taken to the hospital. One reportedly also suffered a broken finger.
Now back to the deadly weapon. Oroojian is 6-foot, 3-inches, and weighs 270 pounds. Some states allow the body to be a deadly weapon in the case of professional fighters or martial arts experts. However, my understanding is that California is not one of those states. People v. Aguilar, 16 Cal.4th 1023 (1997).
Here is the code:
PC 245(a)(1) reads: “Any person who commits an assault upon the person of another with a deadly weapon or instrument other than a firearm shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or four years, or in a county jail for not exceeding one year, or by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by both the fine and imprisonment.”