Matthew McGrath, a five-year resident of West Hollywood, spent two weeks in the hospital and underwent multiple surgeries after he was attacked in the early hours of Nov. 15.
“I’ve always felt safe in this neighborhood,” McGrath said.
McGrath was walking home along San Vicente Boulevard after a night out with friends at The Abbey Food & Bar when he heard “some slurs, some profanity.”
“I’m not exactly clear on what, but sort of a few minutes later, I just felt a really blunt force to my head, blacked out and was knocked unconscious,” McGrath said.
McGrath awoke alone, with his wallet and cell phone missing. The next day, he went to the hospital for scans.
McGrath, who suffered a fractured jaw, spent two weeks in the hospital due to injuries that doctors told him were caused by a blunt object.
McGrath filed a police report two days after the attack, but he hasn’t heard much from the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station since.
In the meantime, other “unprovoked, extremely violent” attacks have taken place in West Hollywood.
The night after McGrath was assaulted, a person was beaten and stabbed on Santa Monica Boulevard. David Cook, 44, was arrested for that stabbing last month.
Two similar attacks involving a different man using a baseball bat and a boxcutter on Nov. 18 resulted in another arrest last month, according to the WeHo Times.
Deputies, who did not return a request for more information, have not confirmed if these other attacks are related to what happened to McGrath, but the timing seems suspicious, McGrath said.
“We get a crime here or there in West Hollywood, but I have never heard of it happening multiple days in a row,” McGrath said. “Similar assaults, similar attacks, it just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.”
McGrath said this attack was unprovoked and could have been connected to his sexual orientation, but given the recent rise in follow-home robberies and other crimes, he encouraged everyone to be mindful of their surroundings.
“Regardless of how safe you think you are, wherever you are, it can happen,” he said.
A GoFundMe page was created to help McGrath through his recovery.