Sitting down on a hot Southern California day with a cup of Pinkberry frozen yogurt is about as relaxing a day as one can get. Perhaps Pinkberry co-founder, Young Lee, could use a few more trips into one of his establishments to let off some steam. The 47 year old was arrested at LAX airport this morning on assault charges. Thankfully for Lee, Pinkberry is wildly successful, so he should be able to afford a top notch Los Angeles assault attorney.
Lee was arrested on a warrant after an alleged incident with a homeless man back in June of 2011. The incident took place on a freeway off-ramp. The homeless man was apparently panhandling, and following a verbal exchange, Lee and his passenger allegedly got out of the car, chased down the homeless man and beat him with a tire iron.
Details of the exchange and the alleged assault aren’t available, but if convicted, Lee faces some very serious consequences. The punishment for aggravated assault could be as many as four years in state prison and a strike on Lee’s record should he be found guilty. It all really depends on the severity of the injuries suffered by the homeless man, as well as the circumstances of the verbal exchange that ultimately led to the attack.
As extreme as this scenario seems, we here at Wallin and Klarich see cases similar to this all the time. A heated verbal exchange between two people can very quickly escalate to violence. And when that happens, a person typically has two choices; hire a good criminal defense attorney or prepare to do some time as a guest of the state.
