The 69-year-old owner of a hotel in South Florida said he was mercilessly attacked by another man over a minor parking dispute. The beatdown was all caught on security footage, and police have been looking for the suspect.
Rudy, the owner of the oceanfront Shore View Hotel in Hollywood, Florida, told WSVN-TV that his parking lot has been regularly used by beachgoers who are not guests of the hotel.
"People park in our spaces, even though they say 'tow away' and everything else," explained Rudy. "They'll park in our private property and go to the beach."
On May 25, a man driving a red Ford Mustang parked at the Shore View, apparently ignoring the signs. Rudy told the TV reporters that he "very kindly" asked the man to move his car, but that the driver responded by saying, "when he comes to Hollywood, he parks wherever the 'eff' he wants to," according to the hotel owner.
The driver allegedly then began to smoke some marijuana in his car, telling Rudy he would leave after he finished.
"He was smoking a joint, and he told me that, because I was so nice to him, he would go ahead and leave, but after he finished his joint," said Rudy, "so I told him, 'You can't smoke because I've got a hotel full of people and kids here. The smell is everywhere. You can't do that.'"
That's when Rudy said he turned to go into his office to contact the police, but — as seen in the video below — was physically attacked by the car's driver, who can be seen knocking the hotel owner to the ground and then repeatedly punching him. The attacker did not let up until a woman, who had apparently also been in the Mustang, pulled the man off of Rudy.
The hotel owner said he suffered significant injuries, including blurred vision and a huge, heart-shaped bruise on his neck.
The suspect was able to flee the scene, and the hotel's security camera did not appear to pick up a fully legible license plate on the Mustang.
The Hollywood Police Department is asking for help from anyone who may have information on the attack at the Shore View, or about the alleged assailant. Investigators can be reached at (954) 764-4357 or (954) 967-4411, or via email at hollywoodpdtips@hollywoodfl.org.
