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Suspect Arrested In Armenia After Brass Knuckles Punch Left Man In Coma During Van Nuys Road Rage Incident

VAN NUYS (CBSLA) — A juvenile, who fled to Armenia, has been arrested for attempted murder after sucker-punching a man while wearing brass knuckles in a Van Nuys road rage incident, leaving him in a coma.

On Jan. 1 around 9:30 pm, LAPD detectives say the victim was near Woodman Avenue and Victory Boulevard, when a black Jeep, which had been driving erratically, started to follow him.

Both vehicles then pulled over and two of the three people inside, later identified as Robert Hovhannisyan and a juvenile armed himself with brass knuckles, exited the Jeep.

Disturbing cell phone video showed the juvenile punch the victim in the head. The victim then appeared to have lost consciousness and hit the ground.

The three suspects, all believed to be in their twenties, then fled in the Jeep described as having tinted windows and California paper plates.

The victim sustained major injuries and remained hospitalized as of Feb. 13.

Hovhannisyan and the juvenile were said to have fled to Armenia following the attack.

The Los Angeles Police Van Nuys Area Detectives, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, Interpol, and the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office, worked together to bring the juvenile back to the U.S.

He was placed under arrest for attempted murder.

"There's no need for them to do that to my dad because my dad isn't that type of person. He doesn't deserve that," the victim's daughter Jennifer Gonzalez said at a Jan. 9 press conference.

Barry Wishengrad, the owner of the car dealership where the victim worked for more than a decade, put out a $15,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction of the suspects.

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