A 28-year-old American-Israeli was wounded in a vehicular attack by a Palestinian-Iranian in California last week, according to police and international media reports.
Roy Gross was enjoying the nightlife in Laguna Beach with three friends on Saturday night when a shouting match broke out between him and two men self-identifying as Palestinian-Iranian, according to international media.
“Investigation revealed two separate groups of men were involved in a verbal altercation that evolved into philosophical differences between the Israeli/Palestinian conflict,” police said in a statement. “The philosophical differences were not the cause of the initial altercation, which originated inside a local establishment and then carried on outside into the street.”
After yelling slurs at Gross, one of the men allegedly attempted to block the victim and his friends from entering their taxi, according to witnesses cited by the New York Post. One of the assailants was then reported to have entered his vehicle and proceeded to accelerate toward Gross.
Gross suffered a compound fracture on his leg during the reported vehicular attack and has since undergone surgery. Gross will reportedly require at least one more operation as a result of the injuries sustained. Gross’s friend also suffered minor injuries.
“This is the first time I have encountered such violence,” Gross told Ynet. “We tried to calm the conflict and avoid the confrontation, but the suspect acted maliciously and with intent to harm.”
The young Israeli-American explained that after moving to the United States in 2014 following his IDF service, he had lived without incident until this attack.
Arrests following incident
The alleged driver, Nicholas Tasooji, 39, was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon, and police claimed further charges were pending.
Tasooji’s companion claimed that one of Gross’s friends kicked him several times in the head, according to police. Itay Zaiger, 25, has been arrested for assault and charged with Assault Likely to Cause Great Bodily Injury.