A subway rider has filed a lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles after a machete-wielding homeless man slashed his face.
The attack on Brent Meldeau happened at 7.30pm on March 2 at a bus stop in Chatsworth. He said he filed the complaint, a procedural step before a trial, in hopes of increasing passenger safety.
Meldeau said he was walking towards the station looking at his phone when he heard screams. Then, out of nowhere, a homeless man hit him in the face with a machete.
Look at the pictures.
“I oriented myself to figure out what was going on, and my face was a mess,” Meldeau recalled.
Meldeau ran to a Ralphs store across the street, where he found safety with the employees. Later, he returned to the station and recorded a video to show how dark it was.
Meldeau and his lawyer believe that if the area around the metro station had enough light and had more security in place, the attack could have been avoided.
“The city’s negligent maintenance of the facilities on this property has increased the likelihood of this type of criminal incident occurring,” attorney Cyrus Shahriari said.
After the attack, Meldeau said he suffered from nerve damage, brain fog and post-traumatic stress.
The city told sister station NBC4 it was looking into the matter, but had no further comment. The assailant, meanwhile, has not been arrested.
At a Los Angeles subway station, authorities blast classical music as part of a crime-fighting program to deter those who would otherwise sleep in the station.
Meldeau said he hopes the legal deposit will lead to greater safety for people who rely on Metro transit on a daily basis.
“Something has to change,” he said.
This story first appeared on Telemundo 52’s sister station NBCLA. Click here to read this story in English.