Cow’s End owner Clabe Hartley has been attacked for the second time by a transient at his cafe Cow’s End on Washington Blvd., Venice.
Hartley, 72, said his attacker had been disturbing customers seated outside on Washington.
Stepping outside to quiet the man, Hartley said the man turned on him, accusing him of serving food which caused cancer.
“He was muttering, ‘He has to die, I have to kill him,'” Hartley said. “He then said, ‘You’re a cancer killer’ and came right up in my face, threatening me.”
Hartley sprayed pepper spray in the man’s face.
“He didn’t flinch. He said ‘Is that all you got?’ before he walked away,” said Hartley.
Thinking the man had left for good, Hartley went back inside Cow’s End and was talking to customers when something came crashing down onto his head.
“I went down. I didn’t know what hit me,” said Hartley. “We saw on the security footage later that the man had circled back, picked up a chair, and came running at me with it.”
The chair had been flung at Hartley with such force a leg flew off, injuring a second person.
Hartley received five staples and was heavily concussed.
Officers in a passing patrol car from LAPD Pacific Division happened to witness the entire event and were on the scene immediately.
Mark Scanlan, 44, has been charged with a felony related to the attack. With bail was set at $90,000, he remains in custody. A hearing scheduled for Oct. 9.
The attack took place on Aug. 26, just days before the recent altercation between a group of homeless and a local business owner lead to the death of one man and a murder charge for another.
As tensions between the homeless and business owners in Venice rise Hartley wants it made clear, “I don’t blame the homeless. Some need our help. This was the work of a psycho. This is what we need to deal with.”
Read about Hartley’s finger biting incident here.
