Woman Charged With Felony Attack on a Downtown L.A. Street Vendor

An attack on a hot dog vendor, caught on video, has put a face to a danger that street sellers across Los Angeles say they live with every day.

The charges

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office has charged Harmunie Heaven Church, 19, of Los Angeles, with one felony count each of assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, aggravated battery, and vandalism, the office said. Prosecutors allege that, during a dispute over a hot dog purchase outside the FIGat7th shopping center on June 15, Church attacked the 60-year-old vendor, knocking her down and striking her. The vendor suffered head injuries. Church pleaded not guilty at her arraignment on June 29, and bail was set at $105,000; if convicted on all counts, she faces a maximum of seven years and eight months in state prison. She is presumed innocent, and the allegations have not been tested at trial. The case is being investigated by the LAPD's Central Division.

A vendor's account, and the response

The attack was captured on video, according to ABC7, and bystanders intervened. The Herald is not naming the vendor, whose injuries were treated; supporters have organized to help with her recovery. District Attorney Nathan Hochman framed the case in terms of vendor safety: "Street vendors and small business owners deserve to work without fear of violence or intimidation," he said in announcing the charges.

A vulnerable workforce

Los Angeles is home to tens of thousands of sidewalk vendors, many of them immigrants and low-income workers who sell food and goods from carts, often handling cash in exposed locations for long hours. California decriminalized sidewalk vending in 2018, shifting it away from criminal enforcement, but advocates say vendors remain among the city's most vulnerable workers and have faced a recurring pattern of robberies and assaults. The downtown attack, prosecutors and advocates say, is a reminder of those risks. The case now heads toward a preliminary hearing, where a judge will decide whether there is enough evidence to proceed to trial.