Photo: LAPD
LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A transient who allegedly knocked a man unconscious in an apparently random attack in Venice was charged today with a felony count of battery with serious bodily injury.
Macio Martinez Harger, 45, pleaded not guilty to the charge, which includes an allegation that he personally inflicted great bodily injury during the attack Sunday.
Harger allegedly approached the man at about 12:40 p.m. Sunday in the500 block of Ocean Front Walk and punched him in his face, according to a Los Angeles Police Department statement.
The man lost consciousness after he was struck, and Harger fled the scene, police said.
Paramedics took the man to a hospital, where he was treated for “serious injuries.''
Harger, who was living in a homeless encampment nearby, was arrested Tuesday and has remained behind bars since.
He is due back in a Los Angeles courtroom July 8, when a date is scheduled to be set for a hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence to allow the case against him to proceed to trial.
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