Left: The Morales family (GoFundMe). Right: Screenshot of the suspect slapping a 10-year-old boy with autism (RMG News).
A California family expressed outrage that the man who slapped their 10-year-old boy with autism may not serve any jail time.
A video capturing the incident quickly gained widespread attention online, leading to the apprehension of Scott Sakajian. The Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office filed charges against Sakajian for intentional cruelty towards a child and physical assault on an individual.
The episode transpired on July 3 in the vicinity of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Osborne Street in the Pacoima district of Los Angeles. Alfredo Morales, a 10-year-old boy, and his older sister were crossing the road when Alfredo touched the emblem on a stationary Mercedes-Benz before continuing on their way.
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As per reports from local CW affiliate KTLA, the driver, later identified as Sakajian, made a U-turn and tailed Alfredo and his sister to a bus stop. He stopped his vehicle, alighted from it, and confronted the siblings. In the video footage, Alfredo’s sister can be seen and heard apologizing and clarifying in Spanish that her brother has autism and did not intend any harm – nevertheless, Sakajian seemed unmoved. Subsequently, the video purportedly captured Sakajian striking Alfredo.
Sakajian’s attorney filed a motion with the court requesting pretrial diversion as opposed to jail time. This did not sit well with Alfredo’s family.
“[Sakajian’s] lawyer said, ‘Oh well, I didn’t know the boy was autistic.’ What the hell does that have to do with anything?” their attorney Antonio Villegas told local NBC affiliate KNBC. “It’s not OK to slap 10-year-old non-autistic kids.”
Villegas also told the outlet the conviction could be stricken from Sakajian’s record if he successfully completed the probationary period.
“I want all the people in the world to see this is not right,” Miguel Alfredo Morales, the boy’s father, said. “You have to respect the children in any condition.”
The defendant’s attorney, James Blatt, told KNBC that he filed additional video clips with the court that show the events leading up to the incident.
As Law&Crime previously reported, KTLA interviewed the woman who recorded the viral video.
“I was traumatized, I was shaking,” the woman who took the video told the outlet. “I said, ‘Hey sir, stop! You can’t be doing that.””
Somehow people identified Sakajian as the driver a couple days after the incident, prompting some residents to show up to his house to confront him, KTLA reported. Police were dispatched to the home because of threats, the outlet said.
There was a further outpouring of support after people learned the family was homeless and living in a broken-down truck in a park. A GoFundMe has netted the family about $100,000.
Community members also held a separate fundraiser for the family. The funds have allowed the family to move into temporary housing.
