'You're choking a kid!': Video shows grown man fighting 13-year-old in Valencia
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. - Sheriff's deputies in the Santa Clarita Valley are investigating a viral video that shows a fight between a middle-aged man and a 13-year-old in Valencia.
The incident happened on Tuesday afternoon outside the Havana Savannah coffee shop on Copper Hill Dr.
In the video, you see a man wearing a green shirt pushing the teen onto the ground as the teen struggles to try to break free. At one point, the teen appears to have his head directly on the pavement with the rest of his body in the air as he scuffles with the man.
"Someone call 911!" a teen can be heard screaming in the background.
The boy who took the video says the incident started at the Circle K convenience store nearby. The store is frequented by Rio Norte Junior High School students after school. Witnesses said that students were crowding to get into the store while the man in the video was trying to leave. Another cell phone video from the scene captured someone threatening to beat up students trying to enter the store.
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Several other students told FOX 11's Susan Hirasuna that the boy seen in the video was talking back to the man and dared him to follow through on his threats.
"You're choking a kid!" one teen yelled as the two wrestled on the ground.
At one point, the man and the teen tumble on the ground as a bystander tries to pull the pair apart, prompting others to come forward to help.
Ricky Harmison eventually pulled the man from the teenager. He said the man "seemed slightly inebriated. He had the audacity to be mad that he was being kicked while he was on the ground while fighting a child, which is dumb," Harmison said.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Santa Clarita Valley Station said it is aware of the video between the teen and the man, who at this time has only been identified as "approximately 50 years old."
Authorities said the man left the scene before deputies arrived. "At this time the male has been identified, however detectives will ensure a thorough investigation is completed before any arrests are executed," the sheriff's station said in a statement.
Anyone with information was asked to contact the station at 661-260-4000.