Video shows bat-wielding auto shop employee attacking, threatening San Jose street vendor
WARNING: The video below may be disturbing to watch for some viewers.
SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- For the second time in the past four days, a street food vendor was attacked in San Jose.
The latest incident happened Saturday morning in the 1400 block of Old Bayshore Highway. An employee of Intex Auto Parts shop allegedly attacked Carlos Sanchez and his pickup truck with a baseball bat, as seen in a video posted to social media.
A man who works at the San Jose auto shop has been arrested for harassing and threatening Sanchez, who is a street vendor set up outside the business on Saturday morning.
A video taken by Sanchez, and shared on TikTok shows the employee of Intex Auto Parts carrying a bat while demanding Sanchez leave the area.
WARNING: The video may be disturbing to watch for some viewers.
"Get out of here," the man wearing an "Intex Auto Parts" sweatshirt tells Sanchez repeatedly while swinging the bat. "This is illegal...you are criminal."
The man proceeded to knock over the Sanchez' cooler and other products. At one point he threatened to use lighter fluid.
"Bring it," he says, arguing that they are on his property.
Sanchez and another unidentified man are heard on the video repeatedly telling the man to calm down.
"Take it easy...take it easy," Sanchez says. "This is a public area, my friend."
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The auto parts employee, however, continues to lash out at Sanchez. He's seen getting inside Sanchez's car and damaging it with the bat. He then appears to make physical contact with Sanchez.
Sanchez is the father of a family of four. He has been cooking at this corner for the past six months, earning about $50 a day. He says has to come to work every day so he has money to feed his family. He even showed up on Sunday, the day after he was attacked.
"I never thought that this would happen, and, of course, I was scared," Sanchez told ABC7 News in Spanish.
He says he was not on the auto shop's property and never interfered with their customers.
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San Jose police arrested the man, who has been identified as 43-year-old Kenny Ho. He is being charged with assault with a deadly weapon and attempted carjacking.
"The suspect also tried to move the victim's vehicle by force, which led to an attempted carjacking charge as well," the police tweeted.
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They said the 43-year-old man is currently booked into jail.
Sanchez says he doesn't know the man or why he attacked him.
"This guy is just super brave. I mean he showed up today, which is really a brave act. Keeping in mind, that he was just attacked with a bat," says Flor Martinez, the CEO of Celebration Nation. The organization helps to educate and advocate for the legal rights of Latino communities across California.
She's glad that Sanchez is speaking out.
"He filed a police report, the attacker is now in jail," says Martinez. "I feel like our Latino-Indigenous community has always been overseen and overlooked when it comes to the struggles they face."
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Sanchez's video has since gone viral after police encouraged him to post it to help identify the attacker.
Sanchez's friend, Erik Lopez, shared the video on TikTok.
Lopez told ABC7 News that he and Sanchez both sell chicken and BBQ ribs every Saturday and Sunday at different locations around San Jose.
As the video has been shared online, several people have flooded Intex Auto Parts shop's Yelp page with negative reviews.
Ho released the following statement:
"I deeply regret my treatment of the gentleman who set-up a vending location outside of my family's auto parts store. I cannot explain or justify my actions, but I can say that, until Saturday, I have always treated others with the respect and consideration that my family instilled in me. I failed to do so here and am ashamed of my conduct. I will ensure that I never treat others in this way again.
I also want to convey that my father immigrated to this country to start a family business more than 44 years ago. The difficulties he endured as an immigrant, and his commitment to his family and to his business, have always inspired me. While I believe the vending location violated zoning laws and contributed to other public safety concerns, I regret using the word "illegal" in reference to these issues - I should not have used a term that could be misinterpreted or cause pain. My actions were not a reflection of the person I aspire to be, and I am truly sorry to everyone in the community that was affected by my behavior."
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