One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Pinkberry Co-Founder Guilty Of Beating Homeless Man With Tire Iron
The co-founder of the Pinkberry frozen yogurt franchise was convicted today for assault with a deadly weapon for beating a homeless man who was panhandling in Los Angeles. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Henry Hall had found Young Lee, 49, who is no longer affiliated with Pinkberry, as a "threat to the community" after the three-week trial. Lee will be sentenced on Jan. 14, without bail, facing a maximum of seven years in state prison, according to The Los Angeles Times.
The assault had taken place in June 2011 when Lee became angry with Donald Bolding, who had asked him for money by the offramp on the freeway. Court documents revealed that Lee felt disrespected when Bolding changed his sweatshirt and his sexually explicit tattoo flashed to Lee and his fiancée. He parked his SUV, came back, and struck Bolding twice in the head with a tire iron. The transient suffered a broken arm and concussion, according to Associated Press.
“Instead of driving away with his passengers as a reasonable person would have done or rolling up his window, or just ignoring the plaintiff, Lee, having taken deep offense of the tattoo, rolled down the window and began an argument with the plaintiff,” Gary Casselman, the plaintiff's attorney, wrote in court documents filed in a separate civil case.
Witnesses had to stop Lee from continuing to beat Bolding, and took down the licence plate number of his vehicle to give to the police. The business owner had left for a international trip to Korea and England before being arrested in Jan. 2012 at Los Angeles international Airport.
Related stories:
Pinkberry Co-Founder Will Stand Trial for Assault on Transient
Pinkberry Co-Founder Pleads Not Guilty To Beating Transient, Granted One More International Business Trip
Pinkberry Founder May Have Assaulted Transient Because of a "sexually explicit tattoo"
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
