Harmunie Heaven Church allegedly grabbed the victim by the hair, threw
her to the ground and repeatedly punched her in the head

LOS ANGELES - A 19-year-old woman has been charged for violently attacking a 60-year-old street vendor over a dispute concerning a hot dog purchase in downtown Los Angeles earlier this month.

"Street vendors and small business owners deserve to work without fear of violence or intimidation," Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said. "This was an alleged brutal attack on a member of our community, and we are hopeful the victim makes a full recovery from her injuries. Our office will aggressively prosecute those who target vulnerable victims and small business owners, and we will seek to hold the defendant fully accountable for this senseless act of violence."

Harmunie Heaven Church (dob 7/27/06) of Los Angeles is charged in case 26CJCF03939 with one felony count each of assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, aggravated battery and vandalism. She pleaded not guilty to all counts during her arraignment on June 29 and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in Department 41 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center. Her bail was set at $105,000.

On June 15, at approximately 3:45 p.m., the victim was selling food on a sidewalk outside the FIGat7th shopping center in downtown Los Angeles. The defendant got into a verbal dispute with the victim about purchasing a hot dog, then allegedly began assaulting the victim, grabbing her the by the hair, throwing her to the ground, repeatedly punching her in the head and yelling insults during the attack.

If convicted as charged, Church faces up to seven years and eight months in state prison.

The case is being investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department, Central Division, and prosecuted by the Central Trials Division.

The charges filed in this case are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.