'Go back to Mexico': 91-year-old man beaten with brick by woman while on daily walk

Josh Hafner | USA TODAY

A 91-year-old grandfather was reportedly told to "Go back to Mexico" before a woman and four men left him beaten and bloodied near the street in a Los Angeles-area neighborhood.

Rodolfo Rodriguez had left for his daily walk near his family's home in Willowbrook on July 4 when he passed a small girl and a woman, the latter of whom attacked him with a concrete block without warning, he told CNN. Soon after, a group of men attacked Rodriguez, too.

Misbel Borjas, a neighbor, witnessed the attack from her car, she told the Los Angeles Times. She captured the incident on video shared with KTLA-TV, which shows Rodriguez with blood running down his face. He was left unable to walk along with a broken cheek bone, bruised ribs and head injuries, the station reported.

“She was yelling at him, ‘Go back to your country,’ or ‘Go back to Mexico,’” Borjas told the Times. “It was racist.”

Rodriguez travels to the U.S. yearly from Michoacan, Mexico, to visit his family in Willowbrook, grandson Erik Mendoza told CNN, which reported that the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department was seeking up to five suspects — the woman and three or four men — as of Monday night.

Authorities said Rodriguez may have bumped into the girl, according to KTLA. His grandson expressed shock to the station.

“How can you hurt a 92-year-old man?" said Mendoza, who told CNN that Rodriguez turns 92 this fall. "What kind of threat does he pose to you, for you to do this to him?"

A GoFundMe campaign established by Mendoza for his grandfather's medical expenses has already blown way past its $15,000 goal, raising nearly $200,000.

Rodriguez is now recovering at home, according to NBC Los Angeles, which reported from his bedside:

More: Kids on winning robotics team told, 'Go back to Mexico'

More: 'Go back to Mexico': Why so many racist chants at basketball games?