Patrick Costello is demanding a response from local officials after a woman punched his 8-year-old-son in the head while the pair were walking through Venice.
Costello said there was no warning before the woman lunged at his son near 5th and Rose and he fears little will be done about the incident.
"Now, I have lived in Venice for over 20 years and have seen all manner of outrageous incidents, but this is the most egregious," he wrote in an email. "Even worse, this unhinged, dangerous person is out in the Venice Beach community right now (!), on a holiday weekend, surrounded by CHILDREN, families, locals, and tourists."
He said his son was walking with his bicycle at the time and was wearing a helmet but the incident was still scary.
"My hope is my personal story could be helpful, even in a small way, to inform the public and drive policy," he said. "Violence against children is among the worst offenses and should not be tolerated by any functioning society."
He said he was primarily concerned about the possibility someone else would get hurt over the holiday weekend.
"Will anyone do anything to ensure this person doesn’t hurt any other children in our community," he wrote in an email to local officials.
