Family and friends of a famous celebrity hairstylist savagely attacked outside a Los Angeles gay nightclub fear he was targeted because of his race or sexuality in a brutal hate crime.
Alberto Vasquez, 53, was beaten unconscious and left for dead as he left Heart Weho in the Rainbow District of West Hollywood at 8 p.m. on Friday, April 5.
The stylist, who has worked for studios and catwalks in Paris and New York, spent more than a week in critical condition in an intensive care unit, with doctors forced to remove part of his skull to provide relief. a brain tumor.
His family fears he will never fully recover and that his attacker may prey on other gay men.
“We think it’s gay bashing,” said his sister Gloria Jimenez. “It wasn’t stolen.
Alberto Vasquez, 53, was brutally attacked and left for dead outside an LGBT nightclub in West Hollywood last week.
His family does not know if he will ever fully recover from the attack that left him unconscious and needing emergency brain surgery to save his life.
“He has injuries all over his body, his neck, we don’t know if he will ever be the same.
“He’s the type of guy that wouldn’t hurt anyone, we know that for sure, I mean he’s harmless and to leave him almost for dead is horrible.”
Vasquez was leaving the nightclub to meet friends at the nearby Gym Bar, but never arrived.
He was taken to Cedars Sinai Medical Center early Saturday morning after a passerby spotted him unconscious and bleeding in a parking lot next to the nightclub.
But it took five days before his family was able to find him when a hospital nurse answered a call on his cellphone.
“The punch to his face, you can tell it was in the eye,” Jimenez told KTLA.
“They fractured his skull around the eye socket.”
West Hollywood, which was incorporated as a city in 1984, says on its website that more than 40 percent of its residents identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.
“For more than three decades, West Hollywood has been one of the most influential small towns in the country; no other city of its size has had a greater impact on the national progressive public policy agenda.
“He’s the type of guy that wouldn’t hurt anyone, we know that for sure,” said his sister Gloria Jimenez. “I mean, he’s harmless and leaving him almost for dead is horrible.”
The popular stylist has worked for runways and salons across the country and abroad.
“We need to find out who did this to our wonderful friend, brother and uncle,” wrote his friend and colleague Michelle Hansen (pictured).
Vasquez photographed himself with Emmy Award-winning actress Elisabeth Moss on Instagram
“We are relieved that he may survive, but he will need multiple surgeries, he may suffer brain damage, and he has a long road to recovery,” his GoFundMe appeal notes.
‘We think it’s gay bashing,’ said his sister Gloria Jimenez (pictured), ‘He wasn’t robbed’
Vasquez, who counts Emmy Award winner Elisabeth Moss among her friends, launched a GoFundMe appeal on her behalf that has already raised $47,000 of her $50,000 goal.
“We don’t know if he was randomly attacked by a stranger in what could be a homophobic or racist hate crime, or if he was attacked by someone he interacted with in the “one of the bars,” wrote administrator Brett Foreman.
“Alberto was transported by EMS to hospital Saturday morning and spent the last week in critical condition.
“We are relieved that he will survive, but he will need several surgeries, he may suffer brain damage and he has a long road to recovery.”
“While we await further details on his recovery timeline from medical staff, we are beginning to raise funds that will be used to cover medical and living expenses as he will be unable to work for the foreseeable future.”
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is investigating but has not yet identified any suspects.
Michelle Hansen, manager of Pony Studios salon in Oakland, where Alberto had worked, said the attacker needed to be stopped before he found another victim.
“We need to find out who did this to our wonderful friend, brother and uncle,” she wrote.
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